MARQ DE VILLIERS is a veteran journalist who has reported from many parts of the world, especially Africa and the former Soviet Union. He has also been editor, and then publisher, of Toronto Life magazine, Toronto, and editorial director of WHERE Magazines International, Los Angeles. He is the author of 14 books, most on African themes or natural history, but one on wine (The Heartbreak Grape which was shortlisted for Canada's Governor General's Awards, and for both the Julia Child Cookbook Awards and the James Beard Awards) and one on the American revolutionary wars, (Blood Traitors). De Villiers was born in South Africa and is a graduate of the University of Cape Town and the London School of Economics. He now lives in Eagle Head, Nova Scotia.
AWARDS AND CITATIONS
- Member of the Order of Canada, 2010.
- Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non Fiction winner for Witch in the
Wind: The True Story of the Legendary Bluenose (see below).
- Dartmouth Book Award for Non Fiction winner for Witch in the Wind:
The True Story of the Legendary Bluenose.
- Evelyn Richardson Prize for Non Fiction, winner for A Dune Adrift:
The Strange Origins and Curious History of Sable Island (written with Sheila
Hirtle).
- Writers Trust of Canada Pearson Writers Trust Non Fiction Awards: finalist
for Sahara: The Life of the Great Desert.
- Banff Mountain Book Festival, Adventure Travel category: finalist for Sahara:
The Life of the Great Desert.
- Governor General's Award for Non Fiction, for Water: The Fate
of Our Most Precious Resource
- Canadian Science Writers Award: for Water.
- Winner, Documentary Science/Technology/Nature category, Saskatchewan
Showcase Awards: Water Water, 3-hour television documentary. Also won for
Best Editing.
- Governor General's Award for Non-fiction, shortlist nomination for The
Heartbreak Grape (See below).
- Julia Child Award for Literary Food Writing: short list nomination for The
Heartbreak Grape.
- James Beard Award,Wine & Spirits category: shortlist nomination for
The Heartbreak Grape.
- Alan Paton Award for Non-Fiction Writing About South Africa: inaugural
year award for White Tribe Dreaming.
SELECTED WORKS
Much more information about the author's work can be found here here