Quote by Bessie Head: “Writing became a way of making sense of life.”

For Bessie Head, writing was more than an artistic pursuit; it was a vital process for understanding her own complex experiences and the world around her. It offered a means of giving meaning and order to a life often marked by displacement and hardship.

Head lived a life of profound struggle, including exile and mental health challenges. Writing provided her with a crucial outlet and a tool for psychological and social inquiry.

Botswanan novelist born in South Africa to a white mother and Black father, whose birth was considered illegal under apartheid law. Her novels, including A Question of Power (1974), draw on her experiences of exile, mental illness, and displacement to explore questions of identity and belonging in postcolonial Africa.