Kannemeyer coetzee biography of christopher

The first authorised biography of South African writer JM Coetzee, by the late Afrikaans literary critic JC Kannemeyer, who died shortly after completing the book last year, has just been published.

Coetzee’s reputation for reclusiveness means the work is certain to attract a great deal of interest. REBECCA DAVIS found the biography revealing.

John Maxwell Coetzee, the great South African man of letters, is a paradoxical figure.

Kannemeyer coetzee biography of christopher columbus

On the one hand he is known to guard his privacy intensely. On the other hand, he has published three volumes of “fictionalised memoirs” already: Boyhood (), Youth () and Summertime (). Exactly to what degree these three works adhered to the historical facts of his life has always been unclear: Coetzee consistently refuses to elaborate on interpretations of his work once published.

“All writing is autobiography,” he has said more than once. The question of how accurate the autobio