Third time lucky for South African decorated novelist
“This has been a great year for African writing.”
Pretoria-born and bred novelist and playwright, Damon Galgut’s (57) has bagged the prize of the 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction on Wednesday.
Former head boy of Pretoria Boys High School, Galgut, who wrote his first novel at age 17 and has been nominated for the Booker Prize twice before, with him snatching the top prize for a third time with his 2021 novel The Promise.
The International Booker Prize is awarded annually for the best single work of fiction which is translated into English and published in the UK and was this year held in partnership with the BBC at the Broadcasting House’s Radio Theatre.
The ceremony was broadcasted live via an audio programme on BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, and a visual experience on BBC iPlayer, the BBC News Channel and BBC Arts Digital.
It was third time lucky for Galgut after shortlistings in 2003 and 2010.
Take a look at the moment Damon Galgut found out that he had won the #2021BookerPrize! Read more about ‘The Promise’ here: https://t.co/HOh2uZApV4#BookerPrize #ThePromise #DamonGalgut @chattobooks @VINTAGEBooks @penguinrandom pic.twitter.com/BYd17ktG5O
— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) November 3, 2021
His win follows the footsteps of South Africans, joint 1974 winner Nadine Gordimer and double winner J. M. Coetzee (1983 and 1999).
The Booker Prize judges praised The Promise for its “unusual narrative style” and called it a testament to the flourishing of the novel in the 21st century.
Galgut told BBC Radio 4’s Front Row during his Booker Book Club interview that the idea for the novel’s structure came to him during a tipsy afternoon, when a friend described a series of funerals.
The Promise is set in South Africa during the country’s transition out of apartheid and explores the interconnected relationships between the members of a diminishing white family through the sequential lens of four funerals.
“It occurred to me that it would be a novel and interesting way of approaching a family saga. If the only thing you had was a small window that opened on to these four funerals and you didn’t get the full trajectory of the family story, as a reader you’d have to fill in those gaps yourself,” Galgut said.
“I’m fascinated as a writer by the edge of the map; by things that are not said.
“This has been a great year for African writing.”
While receiving the award, he said “I’d like to accept this on behalf of all the stories told and untold, the writers heard and unheard from the remarkable continent I come from. I hope people will take African writing a little more seriously now.”
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The Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) congratulated Galgut on his prize.
The department said it was delighted for the Galgut who took home the top prize for his novel.
“This win serves as a reminder of the importance of literature because it allows the reader to step back in time and learn about life on earth from the ones who walked before us,” Minister Nathi Mthethwa said.
Mthethwa said literature had a major impact on the development of society and allowed it to gather a better understanding of history and culture.
“It gives us a detailed preview of human experiences and has shaped civilisations, changed political systems and even exposed injustice.
“We are extremely proud of Damon Galgut for demonstrating to the world that Africa is the hub of spectacular storytellers,” he said.
Galgut has in the past won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book: Africa for his novel The Good Doctor, which was also previously shortlisted for the Booker Prize. His novel In a Strange Room was shortlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize for fiction.
The Promise is Galgut’s ninth novel and first in seven years; his debut was published when he was just 17.
#2021BookerPrize shortlisted author Damon Galgut reads from ‘The Promise’. Comment below if you think Damon’s book should win, and watch the ceremony at 7.15pm GMT this evening to find out: https://t.co/AV21wqS42b #ThePromiseToWin #DamonGalgut @ChattoBooks @VINTAGEBooks pic.twitter.com/u3fN76Xisk
— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) November 3, 2021
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