Courageous friends NADINE GORDIMER (DLitt honoris causa 1984), Nobel Prize recipient for Literature in 1991, was a close friend of Wits. Born in Springs and educated at the local convent school, she enrolled at Wits in 1946, but left after only one year. In 2008 she told WITSReview: “I don’t know why I did that really. At 20 I had read much more than was on the reading list. I’d already educated myself. But there were one or two good people there and I think it stimulated my critical sense.” At Wits she mixed with fellow students from diverse racial, class and national backgrounds for the first time. Gordimer maintained a lifelong connection to the University, giving generously of her time. She often appeared on campus to participate in colloquia and alumni events. When asked what people could learn from her writing she said: “I’m not teaching anybody anything. The best I could say and hope for is (as I read other writers) that they should question their own set ideas. Think again about your certainties.”
NADINE GORDIMER THINK AGAIN A B O U T YO U R CERTAI N T I ES
TH E AN NUAL N ADINE GOR D I ME R ME MORI AL L E CT URE BR I NG S G LO BA L TH I N K E R S AN D AC AD EMIC S TO THE U NI V ER S I T Y. ES TA BL I S HED B Y TH E W I T S S CHO O L O F LITERATUR E A ND L ANGUAGE S T UD I E S I N 2 0 0 4 , I T OF F ER S A N O P P O R T U N I T Y TO REFLECT ON THE RO LE O F L I T ER AT U R E I N T HE P U BL I C S P HER E A N D I N E D U C ATI O N. PREVIOUS LUMINARIES I NCL U DE S U S A N S ONTAG , A MA R T YA S E N A N D C A R LO S FU EN TES . THIS YEAR AC CL A I MED AU T HOR A ND P OET D R MA N D L A L A NG A ( D L I T T H O NORIS C AUSA , MA 202 0 ) S HA R ED HOW HE WA S T R A NS F O R M E D B Y R E A D I NG G ORDIMER’S WORK IN A L ECT U R E T I T L ED: “ T HE VOC A BU L A R Y O F WI T N E S S E S ” .
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Video: YouTube 2022 Nadine Gordimer Lecture: The Vocabulary of Witnesses
