June 28, 2017, Filed Under: Authors, Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingThe computer poetry of J. M. Coetzee’s early programming career Writer J. M. Coetzee’s early poetry is almost undecipherable. That’s because it was written in computer code. Coetzee’s global reputation rests on his literary output, for which he received a Nobel Prize in 2003. Before he embarked on a career as a scholar and writer, the South African–born writer was… read more
September 22, 2015, Filed Under: Research + TeachingVideo: Fellow discusses role of white South African writing in the human rights struggles in South Africa Gareth Griffiths is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Western Australia and a Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong. He came to the Ransom Center to begin researching the South African writer Stephen Gray’s archive. Griffiths wanted to examine “the role of white South African writing in the… read more
January 7, 2014, Filed Under: Authors, Books + Manuscripts, Research + TeachingResearch at the Ransom Center: “To Cape Town and back, via Mongolia” Perhaps one of the most distinctive features of J. M. Coetzee’s 1981 novel Waiting for the Barbarians is the setting—an imaginary empire, one lacking a specified place and time. Yet, when Coetzee penned the first draft of the novel, it was set in Cape Town, South Africa. David Attwell, a… read more
