He was known for writing Afrikaans novels, novellas, columns, youth novels, short stories, plays, radio dramas, film scripts and television dramas.
Christian Johan Barnard was born in Mataffin in the Nelspruit district of South Africa on 15 July 1939.
[citation needed] In the 1960s he and several other authors were notable figures in the Afrikaans literary movement known as Die Sestigers ("The Sixty-ers").
[citation needed] Barnard's second novel, Mahala,[1] is considered an Afrikaans classic.
[citation needed] During 1962 Barnard married his first wife, Anette, and together they produced three sons.