Damon Galgut joins us live from his home in Pretoria, South Africa to discuss his new novel The Promise, winner of the 2021 Booker Prize.

The Promise is a modern family saga centering the Swarts family, white descendants of Dutch settlers, during the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa. Estranged Swarts siblings are reunited by four funerals over three decades. The novel offers moving insights into generational divides, meditates on what makes a fulfilling life—and how to process death, all situated against a political background of modern day South Africa.

The novel is written with sharp prose and is bleakly funny. As the New York Times reviewer describes it: “simply, it’s a must read.”

Moderated by Sri Lankan author Anuk Arudpragasam (whose A Passage North is a 2021 Booker shortlisted novel).

Damon Galgut was born in Pretoria. His 2003 novel The Good Doctor won the Commonwealth Writers Prize (Africa Region) and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In a Strange Room (Europa, 2010) was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. In 2021, Galgut won the Booker Prize for The Promise (Europa, 2021). In 2013, Galgut was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in Cape Town, South Africa.

Booker Prize Winner Damon Galgut: "The Promise"