Introduction


Nadine Gordimer

What does Nadine Gordimer have in common with James Frey? They have both been accused of fabricating parts of their life in order to sell books. Gordimer’s biographer, Ronald Suresh Roberts, claims that Gordimer’s essay “A South African Childhood” was not entirely autobiographical as it claimed to be. Nonetheless, Gordimer is renowned as an author and a major contributor to the anti-apartheid movement. Gordimer did grow up in South Africa and had many experiences that led to her eventual move to Johannesburg to write and work against apartheid. Many of her books were banned in South Africa, including The Late Bourgeois World, which is about her own experiences with government censorship. Gordimer won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991 and continues to write and involve herself in political causes.

Essential Facts

  1. Nadine Gordimer’s best friend, Bettie du Toit, was arrested in 1960. This was the catalyst for Gordimer to become so involved in anti-apartheid.
  2. Gordimer had a falling out with her biographer, Ronald Suresh Roberts, because of his depiction of her husband’s illness and death as well as his criticism of some of her political views.
  3. Gordimer began writing as a child because her mother often kept her home due to “strange reasons of her own.”
  4. She became close friends with Nelson Mandela and was one of the people he asked to see shortly after his 1990 release from prison.
  5. Gordimer testified at the 1986 Delmas treason trial and calls it the proudest day of her life.
 

Recommended Resources

  1. July's People Study Guide (eNotes)
  2. Nadine Gordimer - Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  3. Nadine Gordimer - Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century
  4. Special Commissioned Entry on Nadine Gordimer
  5. The Ultimate Safari Study Guide (eNotes)

All Resources

Display as: Categories, List
  1. A World of Strangers (1962)
  2. A World of Strangers - Book Review
  3. Burger's Daughter - Literary Characters
  4. Critical Survey of Short Fiction
  5. Cyclopedia of World Authors
  6. July's People Study Guide (eNotes)
  7. Jump - Book Review
  8. Jump - Book Review
  9. Loot and Other Stories - Book Review
  10. My Son's Story - Book Review
  11. My Son's Story - Book Review
  12. My Son's Story - Literary Characters
  13. Nadine Gordimer - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 3)
  14. Nadine Gordimer - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 5)
  15. Nadine Gordimer - Contemporary Literary Criticism (Vol. 7)
  16. Nadine Gordimer - Critical Survey of Long Fiction
  17. Nadine Gordimer - Dictionary of World Biography: The 20th Century
  18. Nadine Gordimer - Short Story Criticism
  19. Nadine Gordimer Criticism
  20. None to Accompany Me - Book Review
  21. None to Accompany Me - Book Review
  22. Occasion for Loving - Literary Characters
  23. Six Feet of the Country - Book Review
  24. Special Commissioned Entry on Nadine Gordimer
  25. Special Commissioned Essay on The Lying Days by Nadine Gordimer
  26. The Conservationist - Literary Characters
  27. The House Gun - Book Reveiw
  28. The House Gun - Book Review
  29. The Oxford Companion to English Literature Article on Nadine Gordimer
  30. The Pickup - Book Review
  31. The Train from Rhodesia - Masterplots II: Short Story Series
  32. The Train from Rhodesia Study Guide (eNotes)
  33. The Ultimate Safari Study Guide (eNotes)
  34. Town and Country Lovers - Masterplots II: Short Story Series
  35. Town and Country Lovers Study Guide (eNotes)
  36. Writing and Being - Book Review