Writers around the world are celebrating the news that author and Nobel laureate J.M. Coetzee has been named curator of the Belgian pavilion at next summer’s Venice Biennale. Flemish sculptress Berlinde De Bruyckere (who will represent Belgium with a solo exhibition at the Biennale) was the one who asked Coetzee. Supposedly, they worked together on a book entitled “Allen vlees” (“All Flesh”) which is incredibly difficult to find in the US. He provided the text, she provided photographs.
One wonders how the literati would react if a sculptor or photographer were chosen to judge a short story contest. The chatter might well include the titles of two of Coetzee’s most famous books, “Waiting for the Barbarians” and “Disgrace.”
