A Book of Friends is a gift to John Coetzee on his eightieth birthday. It’s not simply a tribute to him, as writer and thinker, in the oblique, complimentary manner of the Festschrift, although it is certainly that too. Rather, it is a gift of love, from myself, its editor and his life-companion over four decades, and from a few of those whose creative work and conversations John has admired and enjoyed in the regions where he has lived or worked.
There might have been many other contributors: my knowledge of and access to the creative and intellectual figures John has had close contact with over the years is inevitably partial, and in a few cases has been gleaned from others. The book includes essays, stories, poems, extracts from fiction and non-fiction, and graphic material, a miscellany of contributions that in one way or another engage with John’s varied interests or otherwise speak to a particular association. Mingling regions and genres, the book crosses yet another boundary by including two of David Coetzee’s works of art, which John encountered for the first time shortly before his brother’s death.
Almost all the writing and images in A Book of Friends appear for the first time in this form. My profound thanks to the contributors for donating their work, as well as to Michael Heyward and Text Publishing for producing the book, and to Nicholas Jose for his unstinting encouragement and advice. Any royalties will go to non-profit organisations.