Pagineborn 1940 · Cape Town, South Africa · also known as John Maxwell Coetzee, Coetzee
J. M. Coetzee writes spare, unsettling novels about power, cruelty and conscience. Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) is an allegory of empire; Life & Times of Michael K (1983) and Disgrace (1999) made him the first author to win the Booker Prize twice. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003 and moved to Australia in 2002.
Begin with Waiting for the Barbarians.
Part of our African Literature reading list — print it, email it to yourself or share it.
Olaudah Equiano · Sol Plaatje · Chinua Achebe · Wole Soyinka · Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o · Naguib Mahfouz · Mariama Bâ · Nadine Gordimer · Bessie Head · Tsitsi Dangarembga · Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
J. M.
Life & Times of Michael K is usually considered J. M. Coetzee’s best-known work, followed by Disgrace, Waiting for the Barbarians.
Most readers start with Waiting for the Barbarians.
Both refer to the same writer. Other spellings and names include John Maxwell Coetzee, Coetzee.
J. M. Coetzee’s books are still under copyright, so they are not free to download, but many can be borrowed free from your public library or Open Library — we link to them below.