Meet the author: Damon Galgut
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Meet the author
The meetings with writers at Passa Porta, prepared with passion, courage and thoroughness, are more than simply the presentation of literary works. We seek to achieve a genuine connection between writer and reader, and among readers themselves.
Go to overviewWith The Promise, Damon Galgut, long South Africa’s best-kept secret, became a world-renowned writer. The gruesome family story won the Booker Prize in 2021 and found a lot of enthusiastic readers.
The Promise
Shortly before her death, Amor Swart’s mother gets her husband to make her a promise, a promise to which the young girl is a silent witness: their black maid, Salomé, is to get her own house, as thanks for years of loyal service. Amor’s father has his own priorities, however, and the promise is not kept. After his death, new opportunities arise, but Amor’s brother and sister go their own way and continue to resist: Anton is cowardly and refuses to make choices, while Astrid is focused on her own interests. Amor is left with a latent sense of guilt.
Damon Galgut
About the author
Damon Galgut (b. 1963) is a South African playwright and writer. He says he became a writer after being diagnosed with cancer of the lymph nodes as a child. During his lengthy illness and recovery, he ‘learned to associate books and stories with a certain kind of attention and comfort’. His work has earned several nominations and awards. The Good Doctor won the Commonwealth Writers Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the International Dublin Literary Award. The Impostor was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers Prize and In a Strange Room for the Man Booker Prize. Galgut lives in Cape Town, where he is currently working on a collection of short stories.
Jelle Van Riet (b. 1971) writes as a literary journalist for Standaard der Letteren.
Cyrille Offermans in De Groene Amsterdammer
Org. Passa Porta, Querido, L&M Books
picture © Nigel Maister
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