The North-West University (NWU) boasts another winner of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans for 2024.  Dr Pieter Odendaal, a senior lecturer in the subject group Creative Writing, was announced a winner in the Arts and Entertainment category.

He joins Dr Monray Williams, a senior lecturer in the subject group Biochemistry, who was announced a winner in the Science, Technology and Innovation category.

 Dr Odendaal views this recognition as an affirmation of his contributions to the arts and the significance of spoken word poetry in South Africa.

“This acknowledgement has inspired me to keep chasing my dreams and creating platforms for poetry in various languages,” he says.

Dr Odendaal's journey with spoken word poetry began as an undergraduate student in Stellenbosch in 2011, where he quickly developed a deep love for the art form. Surrounded by like-minded creatives at InZync Poetry sessions, he discovered the transformative power of poetry and decided it would be a lifelong pursuit.

“Facilitating workshops, researching the social and ecological transformations poetry can bring about, and teaching creative writing at the NWU have all reaffirmed my commitment to poetry,” he explains.

In recent years, he has also ventured into theatre and, driven by his passion for storytelling in all its forms, hopes to explore the film industry.

This year, Dr Odendaal also received the South African Academy for Sciences and the Arts’ Eugène Marais Prize for poetry for his collection Ontaard. He was also nominated for the Hertzog Prize for drama for his play Droomwerk.

His collection Ontaard also landed him the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Poetry.

Dr Odendaal's message to young professionals is clear: “Life is too precarious to spend it doing something you do not love. Chase your dreams with single-minded fervour, no matter what others say, and you will be rewarded.”

Dr Pieter Odendaal was announced a winner in the Arts and Entertainment category of the Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans for 2024.