Nadine Gordimer once again tackled the issue of apartheid in South Africa through metaphor and symbolism in her short story “Once Upon a Time.” First published in a shorter version in 1988 in the Weekly Mail, the standard full-length tale appeared a year later in America in the journal Salmagundi; Gordimer subsequently included it in her 1991 collection, Jump and Other Stories.
“Once Upon a Time” became another story that contributed to Gordimer’s esteem outside her own country. While the apartheid government once again moved to limit access to the story within its borders, Gordimer’s international standing and influence continued to grow. The year that “One Upon a Time” was published in Jump and Other Stories, Nadine Gordimer was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
