John Maxwell Coetzee
Australia
Nobel Prize-winning author of numerous books on the experience of whites during and after Apartheid.
Professional Information
Professional Areas:
Literature
Working primarily in:
South Africa
Description of Work:
John
Maxwell Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa, on 9 February
1940, the elder of two children. His mother was a primary school
teacher. His father was trained as an attorney, but practiced as such only intermittently;
during the years 194145 he served with the South African
forces in North Africa and Italy. Though Coetzee's parents were not of British
descent, the language spoken at home was English.
Coetzee received his primary schooling in Cape
Town and in the nearby town of Worcester. For his secondary education he attended a school
in Cape Town run by a Catholic order, the Marist Brothers. He matriculated in 1956.
Coetzee entered the University of Cape Town
in 1957, and in 1960 and 1961 graduated successively with honours degrees in English and
mathematics. He spent the years 196265 in England, working as a computer
programmer while doing research for a thesis on the English novelist Ford Madox
Ford.
In 1963 he married Philippa Jubber (19391991).
They had two children, Nicolas (19661989) and Gisela (b.
1968).
In 1965 Coetzee entered the graduate school
of the University of Texas at
Austin, and in 1968 graduated with a PhD in English, linguistics,
and Germanic languages. His doctoral dissertation was on the early fiction of
Samuel Beckett.
For three years (196871) Coetzee was
assistant professor of English at the
State University of New York in Buffalo. After an application for
permanent residence in the United States was denied, he returned to South
Africa. From 1972 until 2000 he held a series of positions at the University
of Cape Town, the last of them as Distinguished Professor of Literature.
Between 1984 and 2003 he also taught frequently
in the United States: at the State University of New York, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard
University, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago, where for six
years he was a member of the Committee on Social Thought.
Coetzee began writing fiction in 1969. His first
book,
Dusklands, was published in South Africa in 1974.
In
the Heart of the Country (1977) won South Africas then
principal literary award, the CNA Prize, and was published in Britain
and the USA.
Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) received international
notice. His reputation was confirmed by
Life & Times of Michael
K (1983), which won Britain's Booker Prize. It was followed
by
Foe (1986),
Age of Iron (1990),
The Master of
Petersburg (1994), and
Disgrace (1999), which again won
the Booker Prize.
Coetzee also wrote two fictionalized memoirs,
Boyhood (1997) and
Youth (2002).
The Lives of Animals
(1999) is a fictionalized lecture, later absorbed into
Elizabeth
Costello (2003).
White Writing (1988) is a set of essays
on South African literature and culture.
Doubling the Point
(1992) consists of essays and interviews with David Attwell.
Giving
Offense (1996) is a study of literary censorship.
Stranger
Shores (2001) collects his later literary essays.
Coetzee has also been active as a translator
of Dutch and Afrikaans literature.
In 2002 Coetzee emigrated to Australia. He lives
with his partner Dorothy Driver in Adelaide, South Australia, where he holds an honorary
position at the University of Adelaide.
From
Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 2003, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 2004. Reproduced on http://www.nobelprize.org
Biographical Information
John Maxwell Coetzee
(At a Glance)
Date of Birth: Feb/9/1940
Gender: male
Place of Origin: South Africa
John
Maxwell Coetzee was born in Cape Town, South Africa, the elder of two children. His mother was a primary school
teacher. His father was trained as an attorney but practiced law only intermittently;
during the years 194145 he served with South African
forces in North Africa and Italy. Though Coetzee's parents were of Afrikaans descent, English was their home language.
Coetzee received his primary schooling in Cape
Town and in the nearby town of Worcester. For his secondary education he attended a school
in Cape Town run by a Catholic order, the Marist Brothers. He matriculated in 1956.
Coetzee entered the University of Cape Town
in 1957, and in 1960 and 1961 graduated successively with honours degrees in English and
mathematics. He spent the years 196265 in England, working as a computer
programmer while doing research for a thesis on the English novelist Ford Madox
Ford.
In 1963 he married Philippa Jubber (19391991).
They had two children, Nicolas (19661989) and Gisela (b.
1968).
In 1965 Coetzee entered the graduate school
of the University of Texas at
Austin, and in 1968 graduated with a PhD in English, linguistics,
and Germanic languages. His doctoral dissertation was on the early fiction of
Samuel Beckett.
For three years (196871) Coetzee was
assistant professor of English at the
State University of New York in Buffalo. After an application for
permanent residence in the United States was denied, he returned to South
Africa. From 1972 until 2000 he held a series of positions at the University
of Cape Town, the last of them as Distinguished Professor of Literature.
Between 1984 and 2003 he also taught frequently
in the United States: at the State University of New York, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard
University, Stanford University, and the University of Chicago, where for six
years he was a member of the Committee on Social Thought.
Coetzee began writing fiction in 1969. His first
book,
Dusklands, was published in South Africa in 1974.
In
the Heart of the Country (1977) won South Africas then
principal literary award, the CNA Prize, and was published in Britain
and the USA.
Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) received international
notice. His reputation was confirmed by
The Life & Times of Michael
K (1983), which won Britain's Booker Prize. It was followed
by
Foe (1986),
Age of Iron (1990),
The Master of
Petersburg (1994), and
Disgrace (1999), which again won
the Booker Prize.
Coetzee also wrote two fictionalized memoirs,
Boyhood (1997) and
Youth (2002).
The Lives of Animals
(1999) is a fictionalized lecture, later absorbed into
Elizabeth
Costello (2003).
White Writing (1988) is a set of essays
on South African literature and culture which Coetzee co-wrote with fellow countryman André Brink.
Doubling the Point
(1992) is a book of essays and interviews with David Attwell.
Giving
Offense (1996) is a study of literary censorship.
Stranger
Shores (2001) is collection of his later literary essays.
Coetzee has also been active as a translator
of Dutch and Afrikaans literature.
In 2002 Coetzee emigrated to Australia. He lives
with his partner Dorothy Driver in Adelaide, South Australia, where he holds an honorary
position at the University of Adelaide.
From
Les Prix Nobel. The Nobel Prizes 2003, Editor Tore Frängsmyr, [Nobel Foundation], Stockholm, 2004. Reproduced on http://www.nobelprize.org