Bessie Head, one of Africa's best known women writers, was born in South Africa in 1937, the result of an 'illicit' union between a black man and a white woman. Her life was a traumatic one, and she drew heavily upon her experiences for her novels. She was looked after by a foster family until she was thirteen, and then attended a mission school. She trained as a teacher. After four years' teaching she took a job as a journalist for 'Drum' magazine, but an unsuccessful marriage and her involvement in the trial of a friend, led her to apply for a teaching post in Botswana. Her precarious refugee status lasted fifteen years until she was granted Botswanan citizenship in 1979.
Her first novel, 'When Rain Clouds Gather' grew out of her experience as a refugee living at the Bamangwato Development Farm, and was followed by 'Maru' and 'A Question of Power' (1973). In 1977 she published 'The Collector of Treasures', a book of short stories exploring the position of women in Africa. In 1981 'Serowe, the Village of the Rain-wind' was published, a portrait of a village brought together from notes and interviews spanning a hundred years.
Bessie Head died in Serowe, Botswana in 1986, aged only 49.