Cope, Jack (1913-1991)

South African writer and editor. Best known for his short stories, included in such collections as The Tame Ox (1960), Cope also produced a number of highly regarded novels, many of which focus on the destruction of South African black culture by whites. These include Albino (1964) and The Student of Zend (1972), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1960 Cope founded, and until 1979 edited, the influential bilingual literary journal Contrast (now New Contrast), which published pieces in English and Afrikaans.

Other works include the short-story collections The Man Who Doubted and Other Stories (1967) and Alley Cat and Other Stories (1973); and the novels The Fair House (1955), The Golden Oriole (1958), and The Rain-Maker (1971), which won South Africa's prestigious CNA Prize. He also published three volumes of poetry, including Recorded in the Sun (1978). In 1980 he left South Africa for England, where he published The Adversary Within: Dissident Writers in Afrikaans (1982).