Listen to the conversation between Booker Prize winner Damon Galgut and Ntsika Kota, winner of the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.
Join Ntsika and Damon as they discuss Ntsika’s winning story, ‘and the earth drank deep’, his writing influences, the writing community in Eswatini, the importance of writing for yourself, and more.
Ntsika Kota
Born in Mbabane, Eswatini, Ntsika Kota is a chemist by training. A self-taught writer, he was originally inspired by a high school writing assignment. Ntsika’s work is a reflection of his thoughts and feelings, and he enjoys creating that reflection. He was announced overall winner for the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for his short story ‘and the earth drank deep’.
Damon Galgut
Damon is an award-winning novelist and playwright from South Africa. He is the author of nine books, including The Quarry, The Good Doctor (winner of the 2004 Commonwealth Writers Prize), In a Strange Room (shortlisted for the 2011 Ondaatje Prize) and Arctic Summer (winner of the Tata Literature Live Award for Book of the Year 2014).
After being previously shortlisted in 2003 and 2010, Damon won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 2021 for his latest book The Promise (Chatto & Windus). Set on a farm outside Pretoria, The Promise charts the burn and crash of a white South African family and was described by the judges as ‘a spectacular demonstration of how the novel can make us see and think afresh’. Damon lives and works in Cape Town, South Africa.
