About the author
Maretha Maartens is an award-winning South African author. She has written about 150 books for adults, teens and children: novels, picture books, a children's Bible, devotionals, a study Bible for women and novels. She was the first editor of the SA women’s magazine, FINESSE, has written more than 1000 articles for magazines and has compiled and edited several books on trauma and counselling.
Maretha is passionate about young at heart, relevant and meaningful books for children and young adults. Several of her books for children and teens have been translated into other languages. DIE INVOËL (TAFELBERG publishers,1987) was included in the White Raven Collection and has been translated into Dutch ( DE INKTVOGEL, LEMNISCAAT, ROTTERDAM), English (PAPER BIRD, PANBOOKS, LONDON and INK BIRD, CLARION PRESS, New York) and German ( DER TINTINVOGEL: Verlag St. Gabriel, Mödling.) Several of her books are prescribed reading in S.A. schools.THE HOMECOMING, one of the stories from Africa selected for publication in MEMORIES OF SUN (Greenwillow Books, USA) reflects Maretha's love for the arid, lesser known regions of South Africa.
A literary novel written in 2001 (JACOBA AFRIKANER, Tafelberg Publishers), was a runner-up in the Insig-Tafelberg Great S.A. Adult Fiction competition.
In 2012 Maretha was commissioned to write a historical novel, MONUMENT, for the commemoration of the inauguration of the Women's Memorial in Bloemfontein on 16 December 1913. This novel, launched in July 2013, spans 100 years of history. It is a tribute to the women of Central South Africa, a confrontation with inescapable choices in present day South Africa and the love stories of five strong women.
Maretha has written several biographies and semi-biographical novels, including:-
MARIKE, the story of Marike de Klerk, the tragically murdered first wife of a former State President of the RSA, Mr. FW de Klerk;
EK DROOM VAN ‘n DROOM, the life story of Elsje Neethling, the S.A. Olympic swimmer, Ryk Neethling’s sister who is living with choroid plexus carcinoma;
WAY BETTER THAN POPCORN, Hendrik Rocher’s story of healing and hope beyond all odds, first published in Afrikaans in 2006 and an instant best-seller.
Maretha is married to Hennie Maartens, a theologian. They have two adult daughters and five grandchildren. They live in Bloemfontein, Central South Africa.
Their website, www.seker.co.za, is about Christianity today: about life after tragedy (A family member was murdered in March 2013); about being entrepreneurs in difficult times, about writing, ministries, missions and great videos. The website content ( e.g. free Bible studies and material for prayer and Bible study groups) is in English and Afrikaans.