Cossee Publishers is proud to present the first comprehensive biography of the Nobel laureate. Biographer J.C. Kannemeyer had the cooperation of Coetzee himself who provided him with private papers and gave him access to his manuscripts.

In spite of his world-wide eminence as a novelist and a literary scholar, the Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee has not thus far been the subject of a comprehensive biography. For J.M. Coetzee: A Life in Writing, J.C. Kannemeyer, well-known for his two-volume history of Afrikaans literature, and the author of six extensive biographies of Afrikaans authors, had the cooperation of Coetzee himself, who granted him interviews and put him in touch with family, friends and colleagues who could supply information about events in the author’s life. 

Coetzee also provided him with copies of comprehensive documentation in his private possession, and granted him access to the manuscripts of his novels that are due to be permanently lodged at the University of Texas at Austin later this year. Apart from the information gathered through these channels, Kannemeyer also made a study of the enormous body of literature on Coetzee, and through archival research unearthed further information not hitherto accessed.