One of South Africa's most renowned writers, J.M. Coetzee is known for his portrayal of his native country both during and after apartheid. His postcolonial orientation draws upon myth and allegory as freely as it does realism. Coetzee is further distinguished by his acute awareness of marginalization, his affinity for rural settings, and his unique take on ethnolinguistic identity.
John Maxwell Coetzee (pronounced "kut-see") was born to Zacharias and Vera Wehmeyer Coetzee on February 9, 1940, the first of two sons. Although Zacharias grew up on a farm in Worchester, a rural Afrikaans community in Cape Town, he became a lawyer for the city government while Vera worked as a teacher. The...
