Damon Galgut (born 12 November 1963) is a South African

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. He was awarded the 2021 Booker Prize for his novel '' The Promise'', having previously been shortlisted for the award in 2003 and 2010.

Early life and education

Galgut was born on 12 November 1963 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

, South Africa. His father was from a Jewish family and his mother converted to Judaism. At the age of six, he was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

. Galgut was

head boy Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

Pretoria Boys High School , motto_translation = "Through courage and labour" , location = , streetaddress = 251 Roper Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria, Brooklyn , region = , city = Pretoria , provi ...

, matriculating in 1981. He then studied

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

Literary career

Galgut wrote his first novel, '' A Sinless Season'' (1982), when he was 17. His next book, a collection of short stories called ''Small Circle of Beings'' (1988), includes an eponymous

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

that describes a mother's struggle with her son's illness. His novel ''The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs'' (1991) won the

Central News Agency Literary Award The Central News Agency Literary Award (CNA Literary Award, CNA Prize) was a major annual literary award in South Africa. It was named for the CNA chain of bookstores. Founded by Phillip Stein, it recognised works in prose and poetry, and in both t ...

in 1992. His next novel, ''The Quarry'' (1995), was made into a feature film, with a 1998 release. A second feature film version was released in 2020. After '' The Good Doctor'', his fifth novel, was published in 2003, Galgut's work became better known outside South Africa. The story of two contrasting characters in a remote, rural hospital in post-

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa, ''The Good Doctor'' was enthusiastically received by critics. It was shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

in 2003 and also won the

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

for Best Book: Africa (2003). His novel '' In a Strange Room'' was shortlisted for the 2010

for fiction. Reviewing the novel in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',

Jan Morris (Catharine) Jan MorrisJan Morris, Paul Clements, University of Wales Press, 2008, p. 7 (born James Humphry Morris; 2 October 192620 November 2020) was a Welsh historian, author and travel writer. She was known particularly for the ''Pax Brita ...

wrote, "I doubt if any book in 2010 will contain more memorable evocations of place than ''In a Strange Room''." She described ''In a Strange Room'' as a "beautiful" book that is "strikingly conceived and hauntingly written". His 2014 ''Arctic Summer'' presents a fictionalized account, “drawn with fidelity to the historical persona of the English novelist”, of the middle years in the life of novelist

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

, focusing on Forster’s years in India and Alexandria. The novel, “a remarkable, lyrical tribute to the remarkable nature of orster’sunderstanding as a human being and as an artist”, was short listed for the Walter Scott Prize. Galgut's novel '' The Promise'' won the 2021

, making him the third writer from South Africa to win the Booker, following

Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writin ...

and

J. M. Coetzee John Maxwell Coetzee OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African–Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in ...

, who has won twice. Galgut says the theme of the book is time. The original idea came from a conversation with a friend, who is the last surviving member of his family, and told Galgut about the funerals he had attended for his mother, father, brother, and sister. In addition to his novels, Galgut has written several plays. At the time of his Booker win, Galgut was working on a collection of short stories.

Personal life

Galgut is

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

and has stated that this leads him to focus on more male-oriented relationships in his writing. Galgut credits the

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

short story "

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...

" as having had the greatest influence on his writing. He has lived in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

since the early 1990s. He is a keen traveller and wrote much of ''The Good Doctor'' in a hotel in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. He describes himself as "obsessed" with

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

, and for some time did not own a car or a

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. Galgut has a "fetish around stationery" and writes longhand on notebooks first rather than on a typewriter or computer. After two complete drafts, he then transfers it to the computer. He has used a particular tortoiseshell

Parker Parker may refer to: Persons * Parker (given name) * Parker (surname) Places Place names in the United States *Parker, Arizona *Parker, Colorado * Parker, Florida * Parker, Idaho * Parker, Kansas * Parker, Missouri * Parker, North Carolina *Park ...

fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an inkw ...

since he was about 20.

Awards and honours

*2004:

: Best Book Award (Africa Region) for'' The Good Doctor'' *2003:

shortlist for ''The Good Doctor'' *2005:

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

shortlist for ''The Good Doctor'' *2009:

: Best Book Award (Africa Region) shortlist for ''The Impostor'' *2010:

shortlist for ''In a Strange Room'' *2015:

Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Sc ...

, shortlist, ''Arctic Summer'' *2015: Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, winner, ''Arctic Summer'' *2021:

for ''The Promise''

Works

Novels

* '' A Sinless Season'' (Jonathan Ball, 1982) * ''Small Circle of Beings'' (Lowry Publishers, 1988) * ''The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs'' (Scribner, 1991; 1992 CNA Award) * ''The Quarry'' (Viking, 1995) * '' The Good Doctor'' (Grove Press, 2004) * ''The Impostor'' (Atlantic Books, 2008) * '' In a Strange Room'' (Atlantic Books, 2010) * ''Arctic Summer'' (2014) * '' The Promise'' (2021)

Plays

* ''Echoes of Anger'' (1983) * ''Party for Mother'' * ''Alive and Kicking'' * ''The Green’s Keeper''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galgut, Damon 1963 births Living people South African male novelists South African dramatists and playwrights South African Jews South African LGBT writers LGBT dramatists and playwrights LGBT novelists Gay writers Jewish dramatists and playwrights Male dramatists and playwrights Alumni of Pretoria Boys High School University of Cape Town alumni 20th-century South African male writers 21st-century South African male writers 21st-century LGBT people LGBT Jews People from Pretoria Booker Prize winners White South African people