Statement from John M. Coetzee, recipient of 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature

Additional Contact: Bill Harms 773-702-8356 w-harms@uchicago.edu Photos: John Coetzee Additional Links: Coetzee appointed Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought BBC: Coetzee wins Nobel literature prize Independent London: Mr Coetzee is run to earth through cyberspace Cultures of Creativity: The Centennial Exhibition of the Nobel Prize opens October 6 at the Museum of Science and Industry

A statement by John Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature and Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. This statement was given in Chicago at 10:00 am this morning, Thursday, Oct. 2.

"I received the news in a phone call from Stockholm at 6 this morning. It came as a complete surprise-I was not even aware that the announcement was pending. I am particularly happy that the announcement has come during this autumn quarter, which is the time of year that I spend at the University of Chicago. The University of Chicago, and in particular the Committee on Social Thought, has been my intellectual home for the past seven years. Saul Bellow, my literary predecessor on the Committee, won the prize in 1976. This year I am teaching two courses with colleagues here-a course on Plato with the philosopher Jonathan Lear, and a course on Walt Whitman with the poet Mark Strand. And I am of course continuing with my own work. I am working on new fiction, and I have a book of translations of Dutch poets due out shortly.