Ingrid Jonker (19 September 1933 - 19 July 1965) was a South African poet. Although she wrote in Afrikaans, her poems have been widely translated into other languages.

Childhood

Jonker was born on a farm in the rural area of Douglas , near Kimberley. She was the daughter of Abraham Jonker and Beatrice Cilliers. Her parents separated prior to her birth and her grandparents (with whom she, her elder sister Anna and mother were living) decided to move to a farm near Cape Town. Five years after the move her grandfather died, leaving the four women to a poverty-stricken existence.

In 1943 Ingrid's mother also died. She and her sister were then first sent to school in Cape Town, but later moved in with their father, his third wife and their children. The two sisters were treated as outsiders, which caused a permanent rift between Ingrid and her father and threw a shadow over the rest of her life.

In 1945 she first corresponded with the South African writer and poet D.J. Opperman , whose views influenced and stimulated her work greatly.

Her first collection of Afrikaans poems, entitled Na die somer (After the summer) was produced at the age of sixteen. Although several publishers were interested in her work, she was advised to wait before going into print; her first book of poems Onvlugting (Escape) was eventually published in 1956.

Adulthood

Her marriage to Pieter Venter also took place in 1956, their daughter Simone was born in 1957. The couple moved to Johannesburg but then they separated and Ingrid and her daughter moved back to Cape Town.

During this period her father who, in addition to being a writer and editor was also a member of parliament for the National Party, was appointed chairman of the parliamentary select committee responsible for introducing censorship laws on art, publications and entertainment. To his embarrassment, Ingrid was vehemently opposed to these laws and their political differences became public.

The mental stress caused by the strained relationship with her father caused Ingrid to be admitted to the psychiatric clinic Valkenburg in 1961, where her mother had passed away some years before.

Her next collection of poems, Rook en oker (Smoke and ochre), was published in 1963, after delays caused by the conservative approach of her publishers. While the collection was praised and acclaimed by most South African writers, poets and critics, it was given given a cool reception by the more conservative white South African public. Thereafter she became known as one of the Sestigers (Afrikaans poets of the Sixties), a group that also included Breyten Breytenbach, André P. Brink, Adam Small and Bartho Smit , who were all challenging the conservative Afrikaans literary norms of the time.

During the same time period she had affairs with two writers, Jack Cope and André P. Brink. One of these affairs resulted in a pregnancy, which led her to undergo an abortion (a crime in South Africa at the time). This also negatively influenced her already distressed mental state.

Rook en oker won Jonker the £ 1000 Afrikaanse Pers-Boekhandel (Afrikaans Press-Booksellers) literary prize (as well as a scholarship from the Anglo American Corporation), which enabled her to realize her dream to travel to Europe, where she visited England, The Netherlands, France, Spain and Portugal. She first wanted Jack Cope to accompany her, but he refused. Jonker then asked André P. Brink to join her. He accepted and they visited Paris and Barcelona together, but in the end he decided against leaving his wife for Jonker and thus he went back to South Africa.

However, due to illness (possibly brought on by depression and excessive alcohol use after Brink left her), she had to cut her tour short and return to Cape Town.

Death and legacy

Upon her return, Ingrid Jonker was again admitted to a psychiatric clinic. During the night of 19 July 1965, she left the clinic and went to the beach at Three Anchor Bay in Cape Town where she walked into the sea and committed suicide by drowning. Upon hearing of Ingrid's death her father reputedly said: "They can throw her back into the sea for all I care".

Jonker was writing a new collection of poems just before her death. A selection of these poems were published posthumously in the collection Kantelson (Toppling sun).

Jonker's poetry has been translated from Afrikaans into English, German, French, Dutch, Hindi and Zulu, amongst others. She also wrote a one-act play called 'n Seun na my Hart (A son after my heart) about a mother's illusions about her handicapped son as well as several short stories.

The prestigious Ingrid Jonker Prize for the best debut work of Afrikaans or English poetry was instituted by her friends in honour of her memory after her burial in 1965. This yearly prize, consisting of R 1000 and a medal, is awarded alternately to an Afrikaans or English poet who has published his or her first volume in the previous two years.

In what was probably the ultimate tribute to Jonker and her work, Nelson Mandela read one of her poems, "The child who was shot dead by soldiers at Nyanga", during his inaugural address at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9 May 1994.