South African author Damon Galgut wins 2021 Booker Prize

London: South African author Damon Galgut has won the 2021 Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel The Promise. 57-year-old Galgut, has won the award in his third appearance on the shortlist after making the cut in 2003 and 2010. He follows in the footsteps of other South African winners Nadine Gordimer and JM Coetzee, and is the first winner



from the country since 1999.

The Promise is set in Pretoria, where the author grew up, and takes place against the backdrop of South Africa’s transition out of apartheid. It tells the story of the declining Swart family, who are white farmers, through four funerals.