He is a leading figure of the Australian organization, Voiceless-- The Animal Protection Institute, and co-selected the stories and essays that appear in the 2013 Voiceless Anthology, which will be published in December 2012.
Coetzee calls animal protection, "one of the more urgent social and philosophical issues of our times." His bestselling novel, Elizabeth Costello (2003), explores many of these issues.
More on the anthology: http://www.voiceless.org.au/grants-and-prizes/writing-prize/2013anthology
Coetzee will share the share with his friend Paul Auster twice today at UAlbany.
More about the events: http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/coetzee_auster12.html
Photo of pigs in an industrial farming facility from an op-ed piece by Coetzee in the Sydney Morning Herald decrying Biblical justifications for the eating of meat:
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/nothing-biblical-in-factory-farming-20111205-1oe2o.html
