Karen Jennings (author)

Karen Jennings (born 1982) is a South African author.[1][2]

Early life and education

Jennings was born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1982, the daughter of an Afrikaans mother and an English father; both of her parents were teachers.[2][3] She has master's degrees in English literature and creative writing from the University of Cape Town,[3] and a PhD in creative writing from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.[1] As of 2021, she is pursuing doctoral work in history at the University of Johannesburg.[4] She has done post-doctoral research at the Federal University of Goiás, Brazil, on the historical relationship between science and literature, with particular reference to eusocial insects.[5]

Career

Jennings edited Feast, Famine & Potluck, a collection of African short stories published in 2014 by Modjaji Books for Short Story Day Africa.[6] Her first novel Finding Soutbek was shortlisted for the 2013 Etisalat Prize for Literature (now known as the 9mobile Prize for Literature).[7] Her book An Island, written with support from a Miles Moreland Foundation Writing Scholarship, was longlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.[8][9]

Personal life

Jennings is married to a Brazilian scientist and lived in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Awards

Works
  • Finding Soutbek (Holland Park Press, 2013, ISBN 9781907320200) – novel[10]
  • Away from the Dead (Holland Park Press, 2014, ISBN 9781907320439) – short stories
  • Travels with My Father: An Autobiographical Novel (Holland Park Press, 2016, ISBN 9781907320699) – novel/memoir [11]
  • Space Inhabited by Echoes (Holland Park Press, 2018, ISBN 9781907320774) – poetry[12][13]
  • Upturned Earth (Holland Park Press, 2019, ISBN 9781907320910) - novel
  • An Island (Holland House Books, 2020, ISBN 9781910688922) – novel

References
  1. "Karen Jennings". Holland Park Press. 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. Cosslett, Rhiannon Lucy (5 August 2021). "'I've been poor for a long time': after many rejections, Karen Jennings is up for the Booker". The Guardian.
  3. "Karen Jennings, Author at LitNet". LitNet. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  4. Hitchens, Joanne (19 February 2021). "An island by Karen Jennings: an interview". LitNet. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  5. "Authors: Karen Jennings". Holland House Books. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  6. Jennings, Karen, ed. (2013). Feast, famine & potluck. South Africa: Short Story Day Africa. ISBN 978-0-620-58886-7. OCLC 915159052.
  7. "Etisalat Prize for Literature Announces 2013 Shortlist". Etisalat Prize. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  8. Self, John (5 August 2021). "An Island by Karen Jennings review — the dark horse of Booker 2021". The Times.
  9. de Waal, Shaun (27 July 2021). "'This is an extraordinary moment for me': SA writer Karen Jennings on Booker longlist". Arts.
  10. Viljoen, Shaun. "Finding Soutbek." Tydskrif vir Letterkunde, vol. 50, no. 2, 2013, pp. 207+.
  11. Kolbe, Helena (6 January 2017). "Book review: Travels with My Father by Karen Jennings". LitNet. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  12. Ullyatt, Tony (4 October 2018). "Space inhabited by echoes by Karen Jennings: a review". LitNet. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  13. Szczurek, Karina M. (10 August 2018). "Space Inhabited by Echoes: Karen Jennings". Cape Times. Retrieved 6 August 2021 – via PressReader.
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