life of ordinary people and their role in larger African political struggles. Religious ideas often featured prominently, as in the work A Question of Power. Head was initially brought up as a Christian; however, she was later influenced by Hinduism (to which she was exposed through South Africa's Indian community). Most of her writing took place while she was in exile in Botswana. An exception is the novel The Cardinals (published posthumously), set in South Africa. In some ways Bessie Head remained an outsider in her adopted country, and some discern she had something of a love-hate relationship with it. She struggled with mental illness and suffered a major psychotic episode in 1969, which led to a period of hospitalisation in Lobatse Mental Hospital. A Question of Power, which Bessie Head considered as "almost autobiographical" was written after this episode. Influences Much of Head's work was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, saying that she had "never read anything that aroused my feelings like Gandhi’s political statements". Head was strongly inspired by Gandhi and the way he clearly described present political issues. Reading his papers, Head was amazed by the work and came to the conclusion that Gandhi must be "God as a man". Honours and awards In 1977, Head attended the University of Iowa's International Writing Program, a very prestigious program that only a select number of writers from all over the world are invited to attend. In 2003 she was posthumously awarded the South African Order of Ikhamanga in Gold for her "exceptional contribution to literature and the struggle for social change, freedom and peace." The Werda School in Durban, South Africa, which was known as the St. Monica's Diocesan School for Girls when Head attended it, has a memorial wall dedicated to her. Legacy In 2007 the Bessie Head Heritage Trust was established, along with the Bessie Head Literature Awards. On 12 July 2007 the library in Pietermaritzburg was renamed the Bessie Head Library in her honour. The Bessie Head Papers are stored in the Khama III Memorial Museum in Serowe. Bibliography When Rain Clouds Gather – London: Gollancz, 1968. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1969. Heinemann, 1987. Macmillan Education, 2006. Maru – London: Gollancz, 1971. New York: McCall, 1971. Heinemann African Writers Series (101), 1972; 1987. A Question of Power – London: Davis-Poynter, 1973. New York: Pantheon, 1974. Heinemann (AWS 149), 1974, 1986. Penguin Modern Classics, with an