the paris review interview: nadine gordimer

Since 1953, when the first issue of The Paris Review appeared with an interview of E. M. Forster, the magazine’s Q&A encounters with the great writers of our times have come to be recognized as a sort of literary genre unto themselves: The Paris Review interview.

Nadine Gordimer (c) Dan Porges

There are other interviews that fascinate me more. Truman Capote’s, for instance. But the thing that caught my eye today was a question put to the South African writer, political activist and Nobel laureate Nadine Gordimer. Did the isolation of her childhood help her become a writer?

This interview was conducted in two parts—in the fall of 1979 and in the spring of 1980.

View the Full Interview