Krige was educated at the University of Stellenbosch and lived from 1931 to 1935 in France and Spain, where he learned Romance languages. He began his writing career as a reporter on the Rand Daily Mail. He began to make his reputation as a creative writer with a book of verse, Kentering (1935; “Turnings”); a play Magdelena Retief (1938); and a volume of poetic tales, Die palmboom (1940; “The Palm Tree”). He served as a war correspondent with the South African forces in North Africa (1940–41) and was captured at Tobruk. He was sent to Italy as a prisoner of war. His escape from the prisoner-of-war camp two years later became the basis for his first English-language book, The Way Out (1946). His earlier short stories were collected as The Dream and the Desert (1953), and his later short stories were published as Orphan of the Desert (1967). His plays The Wall of Death (1960), The Sniper (1962), and The Two Lamps (1964) solidified his international reputation as a dramatist.

Part of Krige’s importance as a writer rests with his pivotal position in South African literature as one who bridges the gulf, both political and linguistic, between Afrikaans and English. He wrote equally effectively in both languages. His critical studies reveal his awareness of the underlying South African literary tradition of which he was a part. In 1968 he coedited The Penguin Book of South African Verse, which included translations of African-language poetry as well as Afrikaans poetry. Krige also translated a number of works in English, Spanish, and Italian literature into Afrikaans.