Mark Behr, who was born in Tanzania and raised in South Africa, recently published his third novel, Kings of the Water. His first novel, The Smell of Apples, was released while Mark studied at the Kroc Institute. His work has been awarded prizes in Africa, Europe, and the United States, and has been translated into 10 languages.
In his writing, Mark addresses race, gender, and militarization within contemporary authoritarian cultures. He is professor of world literature and fiction writing at the College of Sante Fe, New Mexico. He also teaches at the University of New Mexico and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
While a university student at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, Behr became an agent for the South African apartheid government, which monitored student activity to prevent political insurrection. After a political conversion, Mark later became a double agent and spied on the South African government for the African National Congress, a major anti-apartheid organization.
Mark holds Notre Dame master's degrees in fiction writing and English literature. About his work, Mark says: "I teach literature and writing in ways that are deeply and profoundly informed by the activism I believe is a part of the best kinds of peace studies."
- Renée LaReau, March 2010
