The Essential Gesture – Writing, Politics and Places by Nadine Gordimer

The Essential Gesture: Writing, Politics and Places by Nadine Gordimer is an important collection of essays, addresses and critical writings by one of South Africa’s most internationally acclaimed literary figures. Edited and introduced by Stephen Clingman, this 1988 Southern African edition was jointly published by Taurus in Johannesburg and David Philip in Cape Town.

The Essential Gesture brings together Gordimer’s reflections on literature, the responsibilities of the writer, censorship, politics, society and place. Written against the background of apartheid-era South Africa, the pieces provide a valuable insight into the relationship between creative writing and political reality and into Gordimer’s own development as a writer and public intellectual. Her observations extend beyond South Africa to broader questions of literary freedom, cultural identity and the role of writers within societies undergoing political and social upheaval.

Gordimer was already one of South Africa’s foremost authors when this collection appeared, and she would subsequently receive the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. This makes her political and literary nonfiction particularly interesting to collectors and students seeking material beyond her better-known novels and short stories.

This Southern African hardcover edition has additional appeal as a locally published example of Gordimer’s work from the final years of apartheid. The Essential Gesture is particularly suitable for collections devoted to South African literature, apartheid history, censorship, politics, African writers, Nobel Prize authors and literary criticism.

A desirable copy of an important collection from a major South African literary figure, retaining its original dust jacket.

Condition – Very Good

Very good 1988 hardcover in a near fine dust jacket. The book presents very well overall. Prior ownership inscription in ink on the endpaper is the only notable defect.