Who is Wendy?
Wendy Maartens is an author, speaker, and custodian of South African folklore, legends, rhymes, and true stories.
She lives in amazement at the power of words, the deep blue sea, and the basket of stories that every person carries with them.
Wendy is inspired by die simplicity of her immediate environment and the rich history of Table Bay, the West Coast and the Overberg Area, where stories of long ago is waiting patiently like layers of shell middens to be discovered.
She dreams of the day when families will once again share the stories of their great grandparents over a homecooked meal at the kitchen table. She dreams of the day when every town will once again have a storyteller on the town square. But most of all she dreams of the day we will be brave enough to face the silence in our own hearts and remember we are all part of the same universal story.
What does Wendy do?
Wendy specialised in remedial teaching at Oudtshoorn Teacher’s Training College and taught mostly grade 3’s for 22 years. She resigned in 2006 to write full-time.
Wendy has 79 titles to her name. Her first children’s book Lena’s bottle tree was on Exclusive Books Publisher’s Choice List, received an honorary mention at the Noma Awards for Publishing in Africa, and was an ATKV Veertjie finalist. Her work has been translated into five indigenous languages. Wendy was a judge of Media 24’s M.E.R. Prize for Youth Literature for 3 consecutive years. She was also book editor of the magazine Lééf. She continues writing a column for Lééf and was nominated for an ATKV Veertjie in the same category.
Wendy’s work is regularly included in textbooks for primary and secondary school and read on Radio Sonder Grense. She also writes spiritual books and uses her teaching experience to create appropriate learning material like the very popular Ek lees self series for beginners.
To Wendy each day, each book, publisher, illustrator, and reader is a gift from her loving Creator.
Get in touch here to book Wendy as speaker at your next book club meeting or ladies’ event.
Please feel free to send a message or enquiry regarding her books or events.