About Me
Writing has been an indispensable part of my life for most of my life.
What first motivated me to get going was the experience of growing up in apartheid South Africa and the need to speak out against the mad injustice of the racist system I was part of. Those early books from the 1990s are, amazingly, still being used in school classrooms.
Most of my writing is based on my own experiential knowledge of what I write. I’ve hunkered down at the Bushmen fires in the Kalahari desert (Kalahari RainSong); seen firsthand the wild beauty of Congo lakes and forests (The Antbear Cabin); had my fingers burnt on online dating sites (Survival Training for Lonely Hearts); and resonated with the peace and wisdoms of Buddhist and Hindu worldviews at the Buddhist Retreat Centre (Shiva’s Dance). Fiction and fictional realism (The Slayer of Shadows) remains my favourite mode of travel.
To find out more about my books click here.
I’m also a very experienced book editor and project manager having worked for many years in a publishing house, where I gained good grounding in the craft of storymaking. This I now pass on through holding writing workshops and retreats from time to time.
My Books
The stories in this collection are offered as my witness to the planetary moment I’ve been part of, the continent of Africa I was born on, and the difficult country that formed me. Some are speculative, some are playful, some are, as the title suggests, Not For Sensitive Viewers. In their multi-faceted entirety, they reflect my own lifelong wrestling with the deep questions of our bipolar human journey on a wobbling planet through a universe of mystery, spiritual challenge, and wonderment.
Publisher: Wobblingearth 2022
Available from selected South African bookstores, online from Made in Durban and other e-stores, or by emailing elana.bregin@gmail.com
“Beautiful poetic writing with a touch of the magical. Rare in the cookie-cutter template world of today. A sense that the author has lived a thousand lives and knows things at a deep level.” Debra Primo, literary consultant
Emanuel is a young refugee from Congo violence, surviving alone on the streets of Durban; Winter, a reclusive writer, carrying the grief for her lost son. As their fatelines intersect, each finds in the other the reflection of what they have lost. Each must begin the painful journey back through the valley of the shadow in order to find the courage to love – and live – again.
Publisher: Wobblingearth 2021
Available from selected South African bookstores, online from Made in Durban and other e-stores, or by emailing elana.bregin@gmail.com
“In this engaging and delicate story, Bregin brings together two survivors of trauma from entirely different worlds, both short of love and trust, and both full of courage. Her evocation of wild forest and mountains brings healing to her characters and to the reader.” Jane Rosenthal, literary reviewer
“A nuanced narrative of forgiveness and healing (of self) and hope… the writing slithers beautifully and calmly into those difficult spaces inside all of us. It is a book that deeply deserves to be read at this point in South African history.”
German translation of The Antbear Cabin.
Die Geschichte zweier Außenseiter, deren ungewöhnliche Freundschaft die Wunden des Lebens zu heilen vermag.
»Erzähl mir von ihr«, sagte sie, »erzähl mir von deiner Mutter« Dies sind die Worte der alten Esther, nachdem sie den Flüchtlingsjungen Emanuel von der Straße aufgelesen und bei sich aufgenommen hat. Der junge Mann ist mit seiner Mutter aus dem Kongo geflohen, wurde unterwegs von ihr getrennt und fristet seitdem ein mittelloses Dasein in Durban an der Ostküste Südafrikas. Esther, selbst eine Außenseiterin, sieht in ihm, was niemand sonst zu sehen vermag: einen Jungen, der sein verlorenes Herz wiederfinden kann. Und tatsächlich, in einer alten Ameisenbärenhütte inmitten der Schönheit der Drakensberge erfahren beide, dass ihre ungewöhnliche Freundschaft die Macht hat, alle Wunden zu heilen.
Publisher: Limes Verlag, Random House Group, 2021
“Brave Person Wanted For Big Adventure”
When Jasper spots a strange sign in very bad handwriting pinned to a tree, he has no idea of the big adventure in store for him. In the company of a Girl with Attitude, an Eagle Owl with unusual abilities, and a shy Spotted Bush Snake, he sets off along the disappearing forest path. But first he must get switched on to the languages of the non-human world, and get over his bad attitude to his companions.
Publisher: Shuter & Shooter 2020
Available from Top Class Bookshop in the Hilton Quarry Centre; Scribbles Bookshop in Kloof; Shuter and Shooter online store or from elana.bregin@gmail.com
“Elana Bregin – who knows full well how to give a book impact – has supplied a story which young readers can enjoy and learn from. There are many in South Africa for whom just reading a book is a “Big Scary Adventure”. This will tempt them in, and Londi’s commitment together with Jasper’s reluctance will keep the reader reading.” Jay Heale, children’s book reviewer
Kindle Version of Survival Training for Lonely Hearts.
Well-written reader-pleaser about mid-life loneliness, online-dating, the inner corridors of publishing, and the complexities of searching for love amid the interpersonal baggage of South African society.
“I could not put this book down – started it that same day I got it and read late into the night. I loved it!” JD
“I have absolutely loved this book. Not only because I have met the author (who is divine!) Or because I have rescue dogs or because internet dating is a nightmare, or because I know the area where it is set, but because it is really well written, funny and clever and totally engaging. Yes, bunk work for it! Annette Harms Pfeiffer, posted on The Good Book Appreciation Society.
Can a smart, attractive, workaholic single woman find true love after 40? Or will she have to settle for the company of dogs? Kate is a burnt-out book editor whose life is in serious need of a new plot. Lonely, she is driven to searching for love on the Internet. But Prince Charmless has baggage, lots of it. And so does she.
Publisher: Pan Macmillan 2012
To purchase this paperback contact elana.bregin@gmail.com
“The kind of novel you bunk work to finish reading” Rosamund Kendal
“Highly readable novel on how not to run one’s life!” ArtSmart
“Bregin has put her sense of humour to work… with this funny, feisty novel for adults.” Farmer’s Weekly
Gerry Aarons has no one on her side. She’s found out a terrible secret about her father that sends her life into a self-destructive skid. She and her mother are locked in a damaging war of wills. It is Adigar, the visiting monk from Sri Lanka who befriends Gerry and helps her see her troubled life in different perspective.
Publisher: Jacana Media 2009
To purchase paperback: elana.bregin@gmail.com
“Unpretentious, simply told and profoundly moving…how we deal with adversity and learn, or don’t learn, to manage our adult lives…a lovely book.” Jane Rosenthal, Mail & Guardian
“Adigar the monk, with his wisdom, opens Gerry’s eyes to see her life as never before and begins to inspire in her the answers she desperately seeks. Shiva’s Dance is beautifully written by Durban-based author Elana Bregin, and is appealing to young readers and adults in need of spiritual guidance and those needing to make sense of their lives through pain and disappointment. It’s a deeply reflective book about being different in a world of conformity and finding one’s own true path, and should be quickly devoured by any book lover.”Aleisha Tissen, Citizen Citi Vibe
The story of Belinda Kruiper’s journey to the Cape Kalahari desert to take up a job at the Kalahari Gemsbok Reserve (now Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park) just after apartheid ended. Her deep connection with the Bushman community living outside the gates forms the backbone of this lovely book. Includes photos by renowned photographer Dirk Skorski and artwork of the late acclaimed Vetkat Kruiper, who became Belinda’s husband.
Publisher: UKZN Press 2012
Available from elana.bregin@gmail.com
“Writing this book was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Sitting on a Kalahari dune top with Belinda, taping her speaking against the wind noise and the wild bird cries in the background, desert sky above us and the red sand in our shoes, making sure of our return.” Elana Bregin
In a world in need of heroes lives a girl in need of hope.
A story about the enduring power of love to transcend the most difficult conditions. Set in the dark days of South Africa’s post-apartheid transition.
Publisher: Bodley Head UK 1995 (Out of Print)
“The Slayer of Shadows, for which Bregin won the FNB Vita/English Academy Award, is a darkly disturbing book which is at the same time also an imaginatively transformative text. Bregin represents a wasteland that appears at times both despairingly futuristic and medievally superstitious, but also recognisably located in the South African present, in those forgotten places where change has not reached, and life has become a battle for survival. Her richly lyrical text skillfully combines elements of autobiography, fantasy, fable, and magical realism to present a powerful story which traces the coming of age of a young girl in the lawless Jungle. This is a writer who indeed dares to be different.” Siphokazi Koyana, interview in Kunapipi 2002
This is the story of Marinda, a visionary child born into the ferocious Jungle shackland; of her lifelong love for Zach, the man she knows as the Shadow Slayer; and of the spirit’s resilience against even the harshest assaults.
Winner of English Academy of South Africa Percy FitzPatrick Prize 2000
Publisher: Gekko Books SA 1996
Paperback out of print. Kindle Edition coming soon.
The year is 1994. Chelsea’s white world is turned on its head when her mother decides to get married again, to a man called Chester Khumalo. It is not Chester himself that Chelsea objects to, but the stepbrother she is landed with, the maddeningly arrogant soccer fanatic, Nkululeko, who upsets her ordered life and brings the unfamiliar New South Africa firmly into her living room.
Winner of Maskew Miller Longman Young Africa Award 1994
Runnerup Commonwealth Prize 1994
Publisher: Maskew Miller Longman (now Pearson) 1994
Lora has to learn that running away from your troubles doesn’t bring freedom. The Boy from the Other Side is not only Lora’s story but that of Gabriel and Sparrow, each in their own way a casualty of South Africa’s violent society, crossing the divides of fear into friendship.
Winner of the Maskew Miller Longman Young Africa Award 1992
Publisher: Maskew Miller Longman (now Pearsons) 1992
Enquiry:elana.bregin@gmail.com
Retreats, Events & Conversations
Time to Awaken your Writer
My 3-day guided Writing Retreat is aimed at writers in need of a creative kickstart. A gorgeous, peaceful setting, scenic walks and fireside talks, helps participants to start a new story, untangle an existing one, or simply renew the inspirational fire. Contact me for information about the next opportunity.
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