full coetzee story

[Burns, Erik]

^BC-Nobel-Literature, 4th Ld-Writethru,0626<

^South African J.M. Coetzee wins 2003 Nobel Prize for literature<

^Eds: RECASTS lead, ADDS background, quotes throughout.<

^With BC-Nobel-Literature-List, BC-Nobel-Literature-Works<

^AP Photo NY120<

^By MATT MOORE=

^Associated Press Writer=

¶ STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) _ South African writer J.M. Coetzee, whose
stories set against the backdrop of apartheid tell of innocents and
outcasts dwarfed by history, won the 2003 Nobel Prize for literature,
the Swedish Academy said Thursday.

¶ The 63-year-old writer, long a favored contender, was tapped for the
prestigious award for his ability to write fiction that "in innumerable
guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider."

¶ In its citation, the academy said Coetzee's novels are characterized
by their well-crafted composition, dialogue and analytical brilliance.

¶ "But at the same time, he is a scrupulous doubter, ruthless in his
criticism of the cruel rationalism and cosmetic morality of western
civilization."

¶ The prize includes a check for more than 10 million kronor, or $1.3
million _ but it can also bestow the added advantage of increased sales,
celebrity and admiration.

¶ It was the second time since 1991 the academy gave the award to a
South African. In 1991, it awarded the prize to Nadine Gordimer.

¶ The academy had been Eurocentric in its recent decisions, giving the
award to Europeans the last eight years. Since 1980, only three winners
have come from Africa, three from South America, two from the United
States and one from Asia. It's been 14 years since someone from the
Middle East was given the nod, Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz.

¶ The writer, whose full name is John Maxwell Coetzee, is known for
"Dusklands" and "Disgrace," which won the 1999 Booker Prize, the second
time he took home that award.

¶ "There is a great wealth of variety in Coetzee's works," the academy
said in its citation. "No two books ever follow the same recipe.
Extensive reading reveals a recurring pattern, the downward-spiraling
journeys he considers necessary for the salvation of his characters."

¶ The 18 lifetime members of the 217-year-old Swedish Academy make the
annual selection in deep secrecy at one of their weekly meetings and do
not even reveal the date of the announcement until two days beforehand.

¶ Nominees are not revealed publicly for 50 years, leaving the literary
world to only guess about who was in the running. However, many of the
same critically acclaimed authors are believed to be on the short list
every year.

¶ Last year's award went to Hungarian writer Imre Kertesz, whose fiction
drew on his experience as a teenager in the Auschwitz concentration
camp.

¶ A week of Nobel Prizes starts Monday with the medicine award, followed
Tuesday by physics and Wednesday by chemistry and economics.

¶ The Nobel Peace Prize winner will be named Oct. 10 in Oslo, Norway,
the only Nobel not awarded in Sweden.

¶ Alfred Nobel, the Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite,
specified in his will endowing the awards that nationality should not be
a consideration, but many believe the Swedish Academy tries to spread
the honor over different geographical areas.

¶ Nobel otherwise gave only vague guidance about the prize, saying that
it should go to those who "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on
mankind" and "who shall have produced in the field of literature the
most outstanding work in an ideal direction."

¶ The prizes always are presented Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's
death in 1896.

¶ ___

¶ On the Net:

¶ Nobel Web site: http://www.nobel.se 

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