Bessie Head (1938-1986) is often referred to as Botswana’s most famous writer, known for her spiritual, questioning prose.
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Today’s Storyteller is often referred to as Botswana’s most famous writer. Though she was born in South Africa, it was her time in several of Botswana’s cities that most inspired her to write. She infused her work with her personal experiences with mental health, and became known for her spiritual, questioning prose. Today, we’re talking about Bessie Head.
Bessie was born on July 6, 1938, in Fort Napier Mental Institution in Pietermartizburg, South Africa. Her mother, also named Bessie, and nicknamed Toby, suffered from mental illness. She was part of the wealthy, white, South African Birch family. But Toby’s family did little to help Bessie, likely because her father was an Black man, and South Africa was teetering towards official apartheid.
Though Toby’s family likely knew her father’s identity, his name was never revealed. Toby died in 1943, when Bessie was just five years old. Once her mother passed, Bessie’s maternal family cut ties with Bessie completely.
As a result, Bessie spent the first few years of her life moving from home to home. She was first sent to live with a white foster family, but they refused to raise her. Bessie then went to live with Nellie and George Heathcote, a Black couple. When she turned twelve, she was declared a ward of the state and was sent to St. Monica’s home, an Anglican mission school for girls of color in South Africa.
At St. Monica’s, Bessie developed a love for books and reading. But her experience at the school was not all good. When she was 14, the school authorities refused to let her go home to the Heathcotes at Christmas, citing the fact that they weren’t her birth family.
The following year, Bessie ran away from school. She was convinced to return, and when she did, she began to train for a teaching certification. After graduating, she worked as a primary school teacher.
By 1958, however, she realized she wanted to pursue a different path. She found much more fulfillment in writing and moved to Cape Town. There, she became the only female writer for the local newspaper, the Golden City Post.
During this time, she faced an abundance of racism and colorism from neighbors. The following year, Bessie moved to Johannesburg where she found more of a community. She continued to write and connected with well-known African journalists. She also took an interest in South African politics and pan-African movements.
Bessie’s time in Johannesburg came to an end after a series of traumatic events, including a political arrest, and a suicide attempt. After recovering, Bessie returned to Cape Town in 1960 and began her own Pan-Africanist newsletter called The Citizen.
In 1961, Bessie met and married Harold Head, a fellow journalist and member of the Liberal Party. The couple married and in 1962, Bessie gave birth to their son, Howard.
But soon thereafter Bessie and Harold’s marriage faltered. They both wrote articles for a living and made little money. Harold’s work often forced him to move around a lot.
In her spare time, Bessie wrote a novella called The Cardinals, but she didn’t think it was good enough to publish. She believed she would find better inspiration in a country free of apartheid.
She set her sights on a teaching position in a village called Serowe in Botswana. When she got the job, she got herself and her son one-way exit visas. The South African government refused to give Bessie a passport, thereby blocking her from ever reentering the country so she and her son were political refugees.
Serowe lived up to Bessie’s expectations, at least at first. It was a large African town and a meeting place for political refugees and local political groups. Though she lived very modestly, Bessie found time to take her writing more seriously there. She wrote stories about life in Serowe that would eventually make up the bulk of her first two published works.
But after her first year teaching at the local primary school ended in an argument and a call for her to take a sanity test, Bessie and Howard took refuge in a smaller town called Radisele. There, she became interested in agricultural work, farming, and gardening. She also had her first vision of God, which would become a recurring warning sign of her deteriorating mental health. Soon after this vision, Bessie had to leave the farm over a dispute.
She found a job as a typist nearby, and received even better news: one of her stories, called “The Woman From America,” had been sold in the UK.
Bessie was fired from her new job, so she moved herself and Howard to Francistown, a center for South African political refugees..
Bessie’s luck turned again in 1966, when publishers at Simon and Schuster read “The Woman From America” and sent Bessie a request for a novel with an advance payment. Bessie wrote her next work, “When Rain Clouds Gather,” and sent it off to the publishers.
Still, Bessie was suffering from recurring visions. As her mental health worsened, she and Harold returned to Serowe. There she faced judgement from neighbors who lacked understanding and compassion for mental illness. When her landlord asked her to move out, Bessie refused, and was taken to court. Soon after, she suffered another mental health crisis and was hospitalized.
Bessie’s novel, “When Rain Clouds Gather” was published to critical acclaim. She used the money from its success to build a new house in Serowe, which she called “Rain Clouds,” and began to write a new novel.
In the 1970s, Bessie supported a fellow writer’s community project to help alleviate poverty in Serowe. It was called the Boiteko Project, and Bessie tapped into her earlier interests in agriculture to help lead gardening classes. Bessie forged many lasting friendships at the Project. But as was an unfortunate theme in her life, her time at the project came to a close after nine months due to personal disputes with other members.
After being asked to leave the project, Bessie fell into a deep depression and her visions returned. Still, Bessie continued to write and edit, and published her second work in 1971. Following that publication, she suffered further episodes, and was sent to a mental hospital.
On the way to recovery, Bessie began an autobiographical novel. She called it “A Question of Power.” In 1973, it was published to overwhelmingly positive reviews. She also wrote two other books about her life in Serowe, but both were delayed due to clashes with publishers.
In 1976, Bessie was invited to the first ever Writer’s Workshop organized by the new University of Botswana in Gaborone. There, she presented her first academic paper.
By the late 1970s, Bessie, still a refugee, was Botswana’s most famous novelist. In 1979, she was granted Botswanan citizenship.
Bessie published another book in 1984 called “A Bewitched Crossroad,” celebrating African history and traditions.
Despite finding success in her career, Bessie struggled with her personal life and relationships. In the mid-1980s, her relationship with her son ended painfully, and Bessie began to drink heavily. Her health worsened rapidly, and she died on April 17, 1986, at the age of 48.
Bessie continued to write until her death. Her final piece, a personal article in March of 1985, was titled, “Why Do I Write?” It ended with her most famous passage, she wrote: “I am building a stairway to the stars. I have the authority to take the whole of mankind up there with me. That is why I write.”
All month, we’re talking about storytellers.
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