Judith Krummeck: South African Writer and Classical Music DJ | Interview

Author and classical music DJ Judith Krummeck immigrated from South Africa during Apartheid to Baltimore, Maryland in the 1990s.  At the time, she had a background in theater and quickly landed a job at classical music station WBJC where she has worked for the last 25 years. In recent years, she segued into writing and has a screenplay in development.

Watch this interview with Judith about her book and life in South Africa.

The Deceived Ones

Purchase The Deceived Ones on Amazon, here.

Judith’s book “The Deceived Ones” has been published by Apprentice House Press and is a reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” If you have read the play, the twins in “Twelfth Night” are strangers in a strange land with all the trauma of dislocation that goes with it.

In the book, the counterpart to Viola is a Ukrainian woman named Vira who is displaced by the Russian invasion. She becomes a refugee in America and is sent to Baltimore as part of the Uniting for Ukraine Program but gets mugged. For safety, she disguises herself as her brother Sevastyan while waiting for him to arrive from abroad. Another character in the play, Olivia, is biracial to counter a racist and xenophobic version of the evil Malvolio.

The book is set in Baltimore because the city is “both light and shade.” In that way, the author ties in her experience as an immigrant and her classical music DJ background.

An American composer is commissioned to write an opera based on “Twelfth Night” featuring a woman masquerading as a man. Vira becomes his muse, and a love quadrangle ensues.

When Judith began writing the book, the war in Ukraine broke out so she made the sibling’s country of origin Ukraine. But, instead of them being able to decide where they wanted to go, they had no choice but to land in America.

You can purchase “The Deceived Ones” on Amazon, here.

Highlights from our interview

The main theme in Judith Krummeck’s books is immigration which also compelled her to become a writer.

She and her husband arrived in America outside of Washington D.C. in the 1990s without jobs or a place to live. Her husband got a job managing an orchestra in Pittsburg, but she had nothing to do. She cold-called the radio station, interviewed, landed the job, and still works there today.

When Judith was living in Johannesburg, she directed radio dramas.

The Apartheid regime was in power when she was living in South Africa, and she wanted to leave because of it. South Africa was also isolating. To attend cultural activities, she had to travel long distances. Her husband is American but lived in South Africa for twenty years. This made it easier for her to emigrate. Since then, she has fallen in love with America and has no desire to leave. She believes that art and culture in America are outstanding and easily accessible where she lives.

Delving into film

Her screenplay “Philida,” is in development and is based on the last novel of award-winning South African Andre Brink. He was born into a staunchly racist Afrikaner family but went to Paris in the 1960s. It was a vibrant place to live and he realized that people of color were just like everyone else.

When he returned to South Africa, his books were banned and he became a part of an intellectual resistance movement called Die Sestigers (The Sixty-ers). His last book, Philida was based on an enslaved woman who worked as a knitter on a farm. Brink learned she was owned by one of his ancestors.

She was “persuaded” by the owner’s son to “lie with him” and he promised he would grant her freedom. This didn’t happen. After she bore him four children he planned to sell her so he could marry one of his own.

She walked seven hours to a slave protector to lodge a complaint which became part of the public record. Her complaint proved her to be a richly nuanced character which compelled Brink to turn her story into a book.

Judith is working with director Darrell Roodt who has been Oscar-nominated to get the project funded.