Lucky Bastard

When he was ten years old, the author was told he’d been adopted. It was a seismic event that turned his world upside down. Nobody was who he thought they were. His mother wasn’t his mother; his father wasn’t his father; his sister wasn’t his sister. He wasn’t related to any of his relatives. He didn’t know where he came from or who he was.

This was at a time when adoption was shrouded in secrecy and shame. Birth mothers and adoptive parents signed non-disclosure agreements. Adoption records were sealed.

In Lucky Bastard Anthony Akerman takes the reader on his quest to find out where he came from

Anthony Akerman was born in a Salvation Army unmarried mothers’ home in Durban in 1949 and was adopted into a well-known Natal family. After completing an honours degree at Rhodes University, he trained at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol. In 1975, he moved to Amsterdam, where he worked as a director and playwright until he returned permanently to South Africa in 1992. Despite being banned in South Africa, his first play Somewhere on the Border was performed to both critical acclaim and controversy. A recent revival of this play earned him the Thomas Pringle Award. Dark Outsider, his play about the poet Roy Campbell, earned him the Vita Playwright of the Year Award in 1996. Other plays include Old Boys and Comrades Arms. His most recent play, Leading Ladies, received the 2021 WGSA Muse Award for Best Play. Over the past two decades, he has written for many popular television shows and has written several radio plays. He is also a regular contributor to LitNet and the Daily Maverick.