20 November 2023 marks the centenary of birth of the world-renowned South African short-story writer, novelist, essayist and anti-apartheid activist, Nadine Gordimer.
Gordimer was one of South Africa’s most prolific and best-known writers. Through her writing, Gordimer reflected upon the realities of living in South Africa in a racially segregated society, through the earliest days of apartheid to its height and its aftermath – forced removals, the Soweto Riots, the State of Emergency and police violence. Sharply observant, with a critical eye Gordimer helped to expose the inner workings of the apartheid regime to an international audience. As a result, several of her books were banned by the government. She was also a fierce opponent of censorship which was seen in her work with the Anti-Censorship Action Group, a group of South Africa journalists and writers who met to monitor and expose government censorship, and PEN International of which she served as Vice President (1986-1987). She was also a founding member and patron of the Congress of South African Writers.
Gordimer wrote numerous novels and short stories, winning many awards, including the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature. Her writing has been widely translated and published in more than 40 languages.
Amazwi holds copies of her novels, collections and many journals and anthologies in which Gordimer was published. The bulk of Gordimer’s literary archive is held in the USA, but Amazwi does have some original correspondence with other writers, submissions to journals, material relating to some of her books amongst other items, which are available to researchers on our premises.