KNYSNA NEWS - Local artist and author Pieter Frans Kruger officially launched his comic novel, Lock Up/Down, at a special event held at Art on Queen on Thursday 3 February.
Piet Frans, as he is known in writing circles, authored and illustrated the 100-page novel himself during the first month of hard lockdown in South Africa in March/April 2020.
The novel was written in real-time in the first 30 days of the lockdown.
"The weather you see outside the windows of the apartments, are the exact weather conditions I experienced on the day that I illustrated that piece," Frans said during the launch. "Further, some of the panels even include bits of news that were broadcast on the day."
Because of this, the novel inadvertently provides a most interesting glimpse into what life was like in South Africa during the uncertainty of the initial stages of lockdown.
The novel follows two individuals, 'Upstairs' (a woman) and 'Downstairs' (a man), who at first don't know each other but as the story carries on they grow closer.
"As their relationship and the story grows, so does the artwork, admittedly getting better with every page," Frans said. The novel includes 100 pages of comic relief and a story that covers drama, intrigue, war, infatuation, espionage, all culminating in a grand finale on page 100.
The novel was self-published by Frans and printed at Knysna Press. It is available for purchase at Art on Queen as well as various other shops and outlets around Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.
The man behind the novel
Prior to becoming an illustrator and novelist and adopting the Piet Frans pseudonym, Pieter Kruger was an international lawyer and war crimes prosecutor. He spent the first half of his career as an international law advisor for the then South African Department of Foreign Affairs. He joined the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1998.
His next 13 years were spent investigating and prosecuting a single case against six Bosnian Croat war criminals.
In 2011 he and his wife Charmaine retired to Knysna and since then he has spent his time pursuing his lifelong hobby - humorous art.
Examples of the illustrations that feature in Lock Up/Down. Photo: Blake Linder
'We bring you the latest Knysna, Garden Route news'
