Tot siens, koning Arthur by Annelie Ferreira
Tot siens, koning Arthur (Sanlam Prize-Winning Afrikaans Youth Novel)
An Award-Winning Afrikaans Youth Novel of Expulsion, Community Service and Unlikely Friendship in an Old Age Home
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Tot siens, koning Arthur
- Author: Annelie Ferreira
- Publisher: Tafelberg, Kaapstad
- Publication Date: 2012
- ISBN-13: 9780624056225
- Edition Details: Eerste uitgawe (First Edition), Tafelberg, 2012. This copy is from a later printing (Derde druk, 2016).
- Binding: Publisher's illustrated card wrappers, perfect bound with a glued spine. Glossy front cover with a Sanlam gold prize sticker.
- Physical Format: Softcover (trade paperback format), 151 pages.
- Language: Afrikaans
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Good (G)
- Exterior / Wraps: Glossy illustrated wrappers with a Sanlam gold prize sticker to the front. The red spine with yellow lettering is intact, with a pale crease line near the front hinge. Light wear to the edges, and the top corner of the back cover is slightly rough.
- Interior: The pages are clean and the binding appears tight. A previous reader has made light pencil annotations in the margins, including short English glosses and translations beside Afrikaans lines and a pencilled '15' by a chapter title, seen on page 19 and at the 'Good luck' chapter opening. Further annotations may be present elsewhere in the text.
- Provenance: No signature, inscription, stamp or bookplate. Pencil marginalia in a previous reader's hand.
- The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)
Synopsis & Historical Value
Tot siens, koning Arthur (Goodbye, King Arthur) is a youth novel in Afrikaans by Annelie Ferreira, published by Tafelberg in Cape Town in 2012. It follows Sylvia, a Grade 11 learner who once planned to study medicine and was chosen as a prefect. After being expelled from school, she must complete a hundred hours of community service in an old age home.
As the school year closes, Sylvia worries about where she will finish matric and watches her dreams slip away. She has a smitten boyfriend and a nurse at the home who insists on calling her Guineve. Her mother reminds her that she has made her bed and must lie in it, as the Van der Merwe women do.
The novel won the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2012, and this copy carries the gold prize sticker on its front cover. It was the author's first youth book and has since found a place as a school reader, making it a worthwhile example of prize-winning contemporary Afrikaans youth fiction.
Author Profile: Annelie Ferreira
Annelie Ferreira is a South African language practitioner and columnist who writes award-winning youth novels in Afrikaans. She matriculated in Bellville, holds a BA from Stellenbosch University and a postgraduate diploma in translation.
Her other books include Eva ontmoet Einstein (2005), Dit vat guts (2013), Maar Tintin in Tibet (2013) and Dit het alles begin by 'n hond, which won a LAPA youth prize in 2024.
Tot siens, koning Arthur · Annelie Ferreira Tafelberg · Sanlam Prize youth literature Afrikaans · Afrikaans youth novel · Afrikaanse jeugroman · Annelie Ferreira first edition · Sanlam gold prize sticker book
