JM Coetzee takesNobel Literature Prize
2003-10-02 13:20
Stockholm - Writer JM Coetzee won the 2003 Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday, the Swedish Academy said.
Coetzee, "who in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider", will take home the prize sum of $1.3m, the jury said.
It was the second time since 1991 the academy gave the award to a South African, when it tapped Nadine Gordimer.
His novels, which include "Disgrace", "Waiting for the Barbarians" and "In the Heart of the Country", are characterised by well-crafted composition, pregnant dialogue and analytical brilliance, the jury said in its citation.
But it also called Coetzee "ruthless in his criticism of the cruel rationalism and cosmetic morality of western civilisation."
While Coetzee makes the distinction between right and wrong crystal-clear, he also portrays it as being ultimately pointless.
"It is in exploring weakness and defeat that Coetzee captures the divine spark in man."
His latest work, "Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons", published this year, is a mixture of essay and fiction.
Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the academy said the decision was an easy one.
"We were very much convinced of the lasting value of his contribution to literature. I'm not speaking of the number of books, but the variety, and the very high average quality," he said.
"I think he is a writer ... that will continue to be discussed and analysed and we think he should belong to our literary heritage."
John Maxwell Coetzee was born in 1940 in Cape Town. His background is both German and English. In 2002, he moved to Australia where he is attached to the University of Adelaide.
He will receive the Nobel Prize from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at a formal ceremony in Stockholm on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prizes in 1896. - AFP/AP
Have a look at JM Coetzee's books at Kalahari.net