“America is the big subject of the second half of the 20th century, tackled in one form or another by all the great American male writers. You could make a case for saying that it was the only game in town - from Bellow to Roth to Updike to Richard Ford - America was more or less explicitly the leitmotif.”

British novelist, originally from South Africa

Justin Cartwright was a British novelist originally from South Africa. He is known for his fiction, and his work placed him among contemporary writers who wrote across national and cultural settings. Cartwright wrote novels that drew on his background and perspective as a South African-born British author. His reputation rests on fiction rather than on any single public role, and his books are associated with careful observation of character and society.