Alert! The bookmakers at Unibet have put acclaimed South African historian Karel Schoeman at 19/1 (20.00 in Decimal Odds) to win this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature.
Schoeman is the author of a number of books looking at Cape and South African history, his most recent being Portrait of a Slave Society: The Cape of Good Hope, 1717-1795.
Joining Schoeman at the same odds on Unibet are literary heavyweights Don DeLillo (America), John le Carre (Britain), Antonio Lobo Antunes (Portugal), Milan Kundera (Czech Republic) and Richard Ford (America).
The site has Japanese author Haruki Murakami, whose Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage was recently released, as favourite to take the prize, on 7/2. Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is next on the list at 4/1, followed by American Joyce Carol Oates, Algerian Assia Djebar and Albanian Ismail Kadare on 7/1.
Schoeman does not feature, however, on the lists of the other betting industry heavyweights Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill.
The frontrunners, according to those three sites, are Ngũgĩ and Murakami.
Just four African authors have won the prestigious award in the past: Wole Soyinka (1986), Naguib Mahfouz (1988) and South Africans Nadine Gordimer (1991) and JM Coetzee (2003). Although Algerian-born author Albert Camus was the first African-born winner, in 1957, he was considered French at the time he accepted the award.
Schoeman was shortlisted for this year’s Sunday Times Alan Paton Award. Respected political author Max du Preez, the eventual winner, lauded the famously reclusive writer in his acceptance speech.
“I only came tonight because I thought I was going to meet Karel Schoeman,” Du Preez said. “And then he didn’t come! Which has kind of destroyed my night. But Karel Schoeman is one of my all-time heroes. He’s influenced my thinking, I envy his knowledge and his commitment. This really should have gone to him. He’s a spectacular guy. I’m sorry to miss him once again. He doesn’t return my phonecalls or my emails. For 25 years.”
The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature will be announced in October.
Book details
- Portrait of a Slave Society: The Cape of Good Hope, 1717 – 1795 by Karel Schoeman
EAN: 9781869197490
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- Here en boere: Die kolonie aan die Kaap onder die Van der Stels, 1679-1712 by Karel Schoeman,
EAN: 9781869192730
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- Twee Kaapse lewens: Henricus en Aletta Beck en die samelewing van hul tyd, 1702-1755 by Karel Schoeman
EAN: 9781869199784
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- Hoogty: Die opbloei van ’n koloniale kultuur aan die Kaap,1751-1779 (Kolonie 7) by Karel Schoeman
EAN: 9781485300960
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- Early Slavery in the Cape of the Good Hope, 1652 – 1717 by Karel Schoeman
EAN: 9781869191474
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- Hierdie Lewe by Karel Schoeman
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EAN: 9780798142847
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- Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
EAN: 9781846558337
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- A Grain of Wheat by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
EAN: 9780141186993
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- Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates
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EAN: 9780007485741
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- The Tongue’s Blood Does Not Run Dry: Algerian Stories by Assia Djebar
EAN: 9781583227879
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- The Fall of the Stone City by Ismail Kadare
EAN: 9780857860125
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