Nobel laureate author to nurture South Australian students

NOBEL laureate and world-famous author J.M. Coetzee has been appointed a Professor of Literature at the University of Adelaide.

NOBEL laureate and author J.M. Coetzee is now a Professor of Literature at the University of Adelaide.

The South African writer of acclaimed novels such as the Booker Prize winners Life & Times of Michael K and Disgrace, will provide mentoring and oversee students' work in the University's School of Humanities.

Professor Mike Brooks, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), yesterday confirmed Prof Coetzee's appointment as Professor of Literature in the Discipline of English.

He said the appointment "reinforced and extended" their relationship with Prof Coetzee who joined the University as a Visiting Research Fellow in 2003 and was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to literature in 2006.

"We are absolutely delighted and honoured that Prof Coetzee is continuing his association with the university as a staff member," he said.

"To have the talent of someone of his world-class standing on faculty here in Adelaide is a privilege."

Prof Coetzee, who retired to Adelaide in 2002, published his first book, Dusklands, in South Africa in 1974.

Others include: Waiting for the Barbarians, Foe, Age of Iron, The Master of Petersburg and three fictionalised memoirs, Boyhood, Youth and Summertime. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.

"The university is proud to have been associated with five Nobel laureates in its history, each representing the very pinnacle of international achievement in the fields of medicine, literature and physics," Prof Brooks said.

As well as the University of Adelaide, Prof Coetzee has taught in institutions all over the United States including the State University of New York, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Chicago.

The 71-year-old, who is renowned for shunning publicity, said in a rare interview in 2003 published by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter:

"That has always seemed to me one of the stranger aspects of literary fame - you prove your competence as a writer and an inventor of stories, and then people clamour for you to make speeches and tell them what you think about the world,'' he said.