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Karel Schoeman was born in 1939 in Trompsburg, South Africa, and completed his matriculation at Paarl Boys' High School in 1956. He earned a BA in languages from the University of the Free State in 1959. In 1961, he entered the Franciscan Order in Ireland as a novice for the priesthood but later returned to Bloemfontein to earn a Higher Diploma in Library Studies. During the 1970s, he lived in voluntary exile, working as a librarian in Amsterdam and later as a nurse in Glasgow, Scotland. Returning to South Africa in 1983, he served as an archivist at the South African National Library in Cape Town until retiring in 1998. After retirement, he lived for over a decade in his hometown of Trompsburg before relocating to Bloemfontein. In September 2008, he moved to the Noorderbloem retirement community, where he passed away on 1 May 2017.
Schoeman was celebrated not only as a novelist but also as a historian and biographer. He published translations, especially of drama, several travel books, and an autobiography. He received the prestigious Hertzog Prize for Afrikaans literature three times: in 1971 for By Fakkellig, ’n Lug vol helder wolke, and Spiraal; in 1986 for ’n Ander land; and in 1995 for Hierdie lewe. He was awarded the Recht Malan Prize for excellence in non-fiction four times. Following Nelson Mandela's retirement in 1999, Schoeman was one of two writers honored with the State President Award: Order for Excellent Service. More recently, his fiction gained significant acclaim in France, including winning the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger in 2009.
His 1972 novel Na die Geliefde Land (literally To the Beloved Country) was adapted into the award-winning 2002 feature film Promised Land, with a screenplay by Jason Xenopoulos. Schoeman also wrote and published several screenplays, including an adaptation of his debut novel Veldslag, some of which aired on South African national television during the 1980s.
At age 77, Schoeman died by suicide at a retirement center in South Africa, having written about dying with dignity in his suicide note. He had previously attempted suicide at age 75.
