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Zelda Bezuidenhout is a writer of Afrikaans novels, including youth novels, and radio dramas. She has been published by NB Publishers,LAPA and Penguin Random House South Africa.

Biography
Zelda Bezuidenhout (née Nel) was born in Zambia and moved to South Africa as a young girl. She worked as an advertising copywriter in Johannesburg for most of her adult life and only started writing books at the age of 56.

Her first book, the Afrikaans youth novel As mens geluk kon proe, was the runner-up in Lapa Publishers’ Youth Novel competition of 2018. It has since been translated into English and was published as Confessions of a Ginger Pudding in 2021. Her first novel for adults, Die dekonstruksie van Retta Blom, was published in 2019 and has subsequently been adapted for film. Die dekonstruksie van Retta Blom, the movie, will be released late in 2024 and is set to premiere at the Silwerskermfees in Cape Town. The novel was well-received by critics.

Several other Young Adult novels and a suspense novel, Die waarde van Stil Bure, followed. In 2024, she was once again the runner-up in Lapa’s competition with her YA manuscript Quinn se jaar van kwik, set for publication in October 2024.

Zelda and a writing partner entered a Netwerk24 competition with an audio drama, Koppelkatand walked away with the first prize.

Many of Zelda’s short stories have been published in anthologies and magazines. For three years, she had a regular column in https://atkv.org.za/taalgenoot/ magazine and she has won awards for her radio dramas. She lives in Parys, Free State, with her husband Izak. They have a daughter, Mia, who is a compositing artist at an animation studio in CapeTown.

Work
She has published six youth novels: As mens geluk kon proe (2018) Die 6 weke van Thomas en Ella (2019) Toe ons oneindig was (2020) Confessions of a ginger pudding (2021) Die 3 van ons (2021) Anderkant die blou (2022)

Her two adult novels are Die dekonstruksie van Retta Blom (2019) and ''Die waarde van stil bure'' (2021).

Her ninth book is a YA novel titled Quinn se jaar van kwik. This manuscript was the runner-up in Lapa’s 2024 Youth Novel Competition and will be published in October 2024.

Audiodrama, Koppelkat.