US: Ransom library acquires JM Coetzee archive

The archive of Nobel prize-winning author JM Coetzee has been acquired by the Harry Ransom Center library at the University of Texas at Austin. The $1.5 million acquisition includes 155 boxes of the author's essays, manuscripts, notebooks, letters and speeches dating back to 1956, reports the BBC.

Coetzee said it was "satisfying" that his papers would be housed at Texas, where he earned his doctorate in 1965. The South African won the Nobel prize for literature in 2003. He has published 13 books, including 1983's Life and Times of Michael K and Disgrace in 1999 - both of which won the Man Booker Prize.

The collection was purchased using private grants and university money. The institution said the collection was its most important literary acquisition and would give scholars an intimate view of how the author developed characters and storylines in his novels.
Full report on the BBC site