The character is Spud Milton, the boarding school kid in the Spud stories, which saw Durban born author John van der Ruit win many awards for the debut novel in 2006. Spud would today be 35 in the real world.
Much aligned to its author, Johan also celebrates a birthday on 20 April. Born in Durban, John completed a masters degree in drama and performance at the University of Natal. Since 1998 he has been a professional actor, playwright and producer.
Spud is kinda like South Africa’s very own Harry Potter, but without all that wizardry. He is a character who has crept into the heart of a nation as he has developed into manhood from his tender teenage years in the early 1990s at Michaelhouse in KZN.
There have been three books in the series so far. The first installment in 2006 was entitled Spud, followed by Spud, The Madness Continues released on 20 April 2007 and most recently the third book was Spud, Learning to Fly released in June last year.
Something about 20 April is special to John indeed, so from all of us at SA PROMO – we wanted to thank them for their contribution to SA literature and enlivening imaginations across South Africa and beyond, as well as wish both John and Spud a fabulous birthday!
A few facts for Spud fans to put some sparkle into your Tuesday – did you know:
– Spud was written over an 18 month period between November 2002 and April 2004
– Spud has broken all records for a debut novel in South Africa. A novel is regarded a bestseller in a local market if it manages to sell 5,000 copies. To date, Penguin South Africa has invoiced over 160,000 copies of Spud and 100,000 copies of Spud, The Madness Continues.
– Spud, The Madness Continues sold almost 30,000 copies in its first month of release in April 2007.
– Both books have been published in the UK and US and Spud has been translated into Italian, Russian and Portuguese.
– Spud was recently placed 11th on the Exclusive Books 101 books to read before you die!
