Damon Galgut

Damon Galgut (born 12 November 1963) is a South African playwright and novelist.

Damon Galgut
Born (1963-11-12) 12 November 1963
Pretoria, South Africa
OccupationNovelist, playwright
NationalitySouth African
GenreDrama, fiction, short stories
Notable worksThe Good Doctor (2003)

Life and career

Galgut was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1963. His family, of European stock, had strong ties to the South African judiciary. When he was six years old, Galgut was diagnosed with cancer, a trauma which he has described as "the central, cataclysmic event of my life". He fell very ill, and spent long stretches of his childhood in hospital. His love of storytelling developed at this time as he lay convalescing in his hospital bed, listening to relatives reading stories to him.[1]

Galgut studied drama at the University of Cape Town. He was only 17 when his debut novel, A Sinless Season, was published. His battle with cancer was given fictional form in his next book, a collection of short stories called Small Circle of Beings (1988). The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs (1991) won the CNA Prize, South Africa's leading literary award. The Quarry (1995) was made into a feature film, which went on to win prizes on the international film festival circuit.

However, it was not until the publication of The Good Doctor in 2003 that Galgut reached a far wider readership. The story of two contrasting characters in a remote, rural hospital in post-apartheid South Africa, The Good Doctor was enthusiastically received by critics. It was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize in 2003[2] and also won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book from the Africa Region.

Galgut has written a number of plays and has taught drama at the University of Cape Town. He has been a resident of Cape Town since the early 1990s. He is a keen traveller and, in fact, wrote much of The Good Doctor in a hotel in Goa. He describes himself as "obsessed" with yoga, and for some time never owned a car nor a television.[3]

His novel, In a Strange Room, was shortlisted for the 2010 Booker Prize for fiction.[4] The Guardian reviewer was impressed stating; "I doubt if any book in 2010 will contain more memorable evocations of place than In a Strange Room." The review continued to describe it as a "beautiful" book that is "strikingly conceived and hauntingly written."[5]

Personal life

Damon Galgut is openly homosexual and has stated that this leads him to focus on more male-oriented relationships in his writing.[6]

Awards and honours
  • 2003 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region and Best Book) shortlist for The Good Doctor
  • 2003 Booker Prize shortlist for The Good Doctor
  • 2005 International Dublin Literary Award shortlist for The Good Doctor
  • 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region, Best Book) shortlist for The Imposter
  • 2010 Booker Prize shortlist for In a Strange Room
  • 2015 Walter Scott Prize, shortlist, Arctic Summer[7]
  • 2015 Barry Ronge Fiction Prize, winner, Arctic Summer[8]

Works

Plays

  • Echoes of Angers
  • Party for Mother
  • Alive and Kicking
  • The Green’s Keeper
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References
  1. "Damon Galgut Bio". British Council. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  2. Skidelsky, William (2008-06-22). "A fresh eye in the Rainbow Nation". The Observer. Retrieved 2008-07-16.
  3. Hashemzadeh, Kianoosh. "An Interview with Damon Galgut". Web Conjunctions. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  4. Running in Place New York Times. 17 December 2010
  5. In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut The Guardian. 22 May 2010
  6. Allfree, Claire. "Damon Galgut's end of the rainbow". Metro News. Retrieved 20 September 2013.
  7. "2015 Shortlist announced". Walter Scott Prize. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  8. Malec, Jennifer (June 27, 2015). "Damon Galgut and Jacob Dlamini Win the 2015 Sunday Times Literary Awards". Books Live. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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