By LJ Staff

The Swedish Academy has awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature to South African novelist J.M. Coetzee. The 63-year-old writer, whose eight titles include Disgrace, Age of Iron and Waiting for the Barbarians, expressed shock, saying he was "not even aware that the announcement was pending." Following the announcement, his publisher, Viking Press, said it will expand its initial print run of 33,000 copies of Coetzee's forthcoming volume Elizabeth Costello, which debuts October 16, in anticipation of greater demand. Academy members praised the author's canon, saying, "There is a great wealth of variety in Coetzee's works. No two books ever follow the same recipe." Coetzee previously won the Booker Prize both in 1983 for Life and Times of Michael K and in 1999 for Disgrace. Coetzee will claim his Literature prize of a citation and $1.3 million, along with winners in other Nobel categories, at a December 10 ceremony.