‘We should not ... lose sight of DECIMA’s excellence as a work of literature. The plots are finely contrived, the characterisation artful, and the use of literary devices restrained in ways appropriate to the subject. It is stylistically impeccable’ – THE JOHANNESBURG REVIEW OF BOOKS

★Longlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize (2024)
★Shortlisted for the KykNET-Rapport Prize (2024)
★Winnner of the Hertzog Prize for Prose (2025)

She, Decima, lay like a mountain of flesh. When she gathered strength to rise, her four feet stepped into the sand and shale, producing soft thuds and puffs of dust as her toes—three on each foot—dug firmly into the barren earth. Decima stood up.

In the endless wilderness of the Eastern Karoo, a writer was imagining her: Decima, a magnificent black rhinoceros cow. She was the mother of Tandeka, who herself was now pregnant, growing fuller with each passing day, carrying forward the hope of their kind.

Decima and her crash awaited the arrival of new life. She still remembered how, many seasons ago, she had become an orphan. Now, as full moons came and went, an atmosphere of tension grew increasingly palpable.

How does one write about animals as sentient beings? Eben longed to find an answer. As the story of the matriarch rhino and her family unfolded, numerous characters influencing their fate emerged: poachers, their buyers, traditional medicine practitioners, and those dedicated to protecting wildlife. Interwoven with Eben’s study of rhinos was an account of his aging and frail mother. Yet, the loudest and most persistent voice echoing in his ears was that of Decima… Eben Venter’s book, with its creative blend of autofiction, allegory, mystery, and scientific inquiry, is an urgent and heartfelt plea—to protect the planet’s last remaining megaherbivores.

Decima is an elegy for countless lives, a moving tribute to all that has been lost—both tender and haunting.

Eben Venter’s nine critically acclaimed novels include TRENCHERMAN, WOLF, WOLF, and GREEN AS THE SKY IS BLUE, written in partial fulfilment of a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Queensland. He is also the author of two books of short stories and a collection of columns, and his work can be read in Afrikaans, English, Dutch, and German. Over the years he has won numerous awards for his work, including the prominent KykNet-RAPPORT Prize. Raised on a sheep farm in the Eastern Cape, he lives in Australia