1876–1932 · Boshof, Orange Free State (South Africa) · also known as Solomon Plaatje, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje
Sol Plaatje was a journalist, linguist and politician — a founding member and the first general secretary of the South African Native National Congress, which became the ANC. His Native Life in South Africa (1916) exposed the devastating 1913 Natives Land Act, and Mhudi, published in 1930, was one of the first novels in English by a Black South African. He also translated Shakespeare into Setswana.
Begin with Native Life in South Africa.
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Olaudah Equiano · Chinua Achebe · Wole Soyinka · Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o · Naguib Mahfouz · Mariama Bâ · Nadine Gordimer · J. M. Coetzee · Bessie Head · Tsitsi Dangarembga · Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Sol Plaatje was a journalist, linguist and politician — a founding member and the first general secretary of the South African Native National Congress, which became the ANC. His Native Life in South Africa (1916) exposed the devastating 1913 Natives Land Act, and Mhudi, published in 1930, was one of the first novels in English by a Black South African.
Native Life in South Africa is usually considered Sol Plaatje’s best-known work, followed by Mhudi.
Most readers start with Native Life in South Africa.
Both refer to the same writer. Other spellings and names include Solomon Plaatje, Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje.
Many of Sol Plaatje’s works are in the public domain; we link to free editions below.