Christie Watson

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Christie Watson
Christie Watson - Oct 2023.jpg
Watson in 2022
NationalityBritish
Alma mater University of East Anglia
OccupationWriter
Notable workTiny Sunbirds Far Away (2011)
The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story (2018
Awards Costa First Novel Award
Website www.christiewatsonauthor.co.uk

Christie Watson is a British writer and Professor of Medical Humanities at the University of East Anglia. [1] She worked as a nurse for more than twenty years, before becoming an author. [2] She has written six books, including her first novel Tiny Sunbirds Far Away (2011), which won the Costa First Novel Award, [3] [4] and first memoir The Language of Kindness (2018), which was a number-one Sunday Times Bestseller. [5] Her work has been translated into 23 languages and adapted for theatre. [6] Her latest book Moral Injuries is currently being developed as a television series. [7]

Contents

Career

Her nursing career included Great Ormond Street Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital. 

She won the Malcolm Bradbury Bursary, which enabled her to take an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, from where she graduated in 2009. [8]

Her first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award in the 2011 Costa Book Awards.

Her second novel, Where Women Are Kings (2014), also won critical praise and has been widely translated. [9]

In 2018, she published a memoir, The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story, which was broadcast as Book of the Week on BBC Radio 4 in May 2018 and spent more than five months in The Sunday Times Top-Ten Bestseller list. [10] [11] It was named as a Book of the Year in 2018 by The Guardian , Sunday Times , The Daily Telegraph , The Times , New Statesman , Netgalley and The Reading Agency.

Watson published two further memoirs to critical acclaim: The Courage to Care and Quilt on Fire both receiving five-star critical reviews. [12] [13]

Weidenfeld & Nicolson have acquired three novels from Watson in a major deal. The first, Moral Injuries, has been published in 2024 [14] and received positive reviews, including praise for best new thrillers. [15] [16] [17] It is currently being developed as a television series. [7]

Public engagement

Watson lives in London, England. She is a contributor to the media including The Guardian , [18] The Telegraph , [19] The New York Times , [20] and has been a guest speaker for various radio and television shows including BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 2, [21] BBC News, Sky News, The Lorraine Show . [22]

Watson has delivered speeches across the UK, including the keynote speech at Royal College of Nursing Conference, [23] and TedX. [24]

She appears regularly at literary festivals, such as Hay, Southbank, [25] and Edinburgh. [26]

Achievements

AchievementYear
University of East Anglia - Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa2018
Shortlisted BBI Narrative Non-Fiction Book of the Year2018
Shortlisted IBW Adult Book Award2018
Marie Claire Magazine – Future Shaper Award2018
Waverton Good Read Award2013
Red Magazine 's Hot Woman of the Year (Creative)2012
Costa Book Award for First Novel 2012

Christie Watson is Patron of the Royal College of Nursing Foundation. [27]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agatha Christie</span> English mystery and detective writer (1890–1976)

Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, was a British author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. She also wrote the world's longest-running play, the murder mystery The Mousetrap, which has been performed in the West End of London since 1952. A writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Christie has been called the "Queen of Crime"—a moniker which is now trademarked by her estate—or the "Queen of Mystery". She also wrote six novels under the pseudonym Mary Westmacott. In 1971, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to literature. Guinness World Records lists Christie as the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies.

Amanda Craig is a British novelist, critic and journalist. She was a recipient of the Catherine Pakenham Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Atkinson (writer)</span> English writer

Kate Atkinson is an English writer of novels, plays and short stories. She is known for creating the Jackson Brodie series of detective novels, which has been adapted into the BBC One series, Case Histories. She won the Whitbread Book of the Year prize in 1995 in the Novels category for Behind the Scenes at the Museum, winning again in 2013 and 2015 under its new name, the Costa Book Awards.

Eilidh Martina Cole is a British crime writer. As of 2021 she has released twenty-six novels about crime, most of which examine London's gangster underworld. Four of her novels, Dangerous Lady, The Jump, The Take and The Runaway have been adapted into high-rating television dramas. She has achieved sales of over fourteen million in the UK alone and her tenth novel, The Know, spent seven weeks on The Sunday Times hardback best-sellers list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalie Haynes</span> English writer, broadcaster, classicist, and comedian

Natalie Louise Haynes is an English writer, broadcaster, classicist, and comedian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mo Hayder</span> British author (1962–2021)

Beatrice Clare Dunkel was a British author. Earlier in her life she worked as an actress and model under the name Candy Davis and appeared as Miss Belfridge in the BBC sitcom Are You Being Served? She went on to write novels as Mo Hayder. She won an Edgar Award in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kia Abdullah</span> British novelist and travel writer

Kia Abdullah is a British novelist and travel writer. She is the best-selling author of courtroom dramas Take It Back, Truth Be Told, Next of Kin and Those People Next Door. She has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Times,The Financial Times, The Telegraph and the BBC, among other publications.

Kate Clanchy MBE is a British poet, freelance writer and teacher.

Steve "S. J." Watson is an English writer. He debuted in 2011 with the thriller novel Before I Go to Sleep. Rights to publish the book have been sold in 42 countries and it has continued to be an international bestseller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Sheridan</span> Scottish activist and writer

Sara Sheridan is a Scottish activist and writer who works in a variety of genres, though predominantly in historical fiction. She is the creator of the Mirabelle Bevan mysteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Kay (writer)</span> British comedy writer, author, youtuber, comedian and former doctor (born 1980)

Adam Richard Kay is a British TV writer, author, comedian and former doctor. He is the author of the memoir This Is Going to Hurt (2017), about his time as a trainee doctor. His television writing credits include This is Going to Hurt, Crims, Mrs. Brown's Boys and Mitchell and Webb.

Nathan Filer is a British writer best known for his debut novel, The Shock of the Fall. This won several major literary awards, including the Costa Book of the Year and the Betty Trask Prize. It was a Sunday Times Bestseller, and has been translated into thirty languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Abbott</span> British author

Rachel Abbott is an English author of psychological thrillers. A self-publisher, her first seven novels have combined to sell over three million copies, and have all been bestsellers on Amazon's Kindle store. In 2015, she was named the 14th bestselling author over the last five years on Amazon's Kindle in the UK.

Andrew Michael Hurley is a British writer whose debut novel, The Loney, was published in a limited edition of 350 copies on 1 October 2014 by Tartarus Press and was published under Hodder and Stoughton's John Murray imprint in 2015 (ISBN 9781473619821). He was interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Open Book programme "British Gothic" in October 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raynor Winn</span> British writer and long-distance walker

Raynor Winn is a British long-distance walker and writer. Her first book, The Salt Path, was a Sunday Times bestseller in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Rooney</span> Irish author (born 1991)

Sally Rooney is an Irish author and screenwriter. She has published four novels: Conversations with Friends (2017), Normal People (2018), Beautiful World, Where Are You (2021), and Intermezzo (2024). The first two were adapted into the television miniseries Normal People (2020) and Conversations with Friends (2022).

John Preston is an English journalist and novelist. He is the author of books and screenplays which became successful films on Netflix and award-winning series on BBC and on ITV.

<i>The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle</i> Novel by Stuart Turton

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is a novel by Stuart Turton which won the Best First Novel prize in the 2018 Costa Book Awards and reached number one on TheSaturday Times Bestseller list and number five on The Sunday Times Bestseller list.

Winnie M Li is an American writer, novelist and activist based in England. Her first novel Dark Chapter, released in 2017, was based on her own experience of a stranger rape in 2008. Her second novel Complicit was published in 2022.

<i>The Thursday Murder Club</i> 2020 crime novel by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club is a 2020 murder mystery novel, the debut novel by British television presenter Richard Osman. It is the first installment in his "Thursday Murder Club" series. It was published on 3 September 2020 by Viking Press, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House, and also released in 2020 as an audiobook, read by Lesley Manville.

References

  1. Cowdrey, Katherine (27 July 2020). "Author Christie Watson appointed UEA professor". The Bookseller .
  2. "Christie Watson | About". www.christiewatsonauthor.co.uk.
  3. Brown, Mark (3 January 2012). "Moira Young's Blood Red Road leads Costa book winners". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  4. "Books: The Sunday Times Bestsellers chart, May 20". The Sunday Times.
  5. "Christie Watson and daughter write book for Chatto". The Bookseller. 23 February 2021.
  6. Wiegand, Chris (8 June 2021). "The Language of Kindness review – moving memories of nursing". The Guardian.
  7. 1 2 Whittock, Jesse (26 March 2024). "Universal International Studios Sets Series Adaptation Of Christie Watson's 'Moral Injuries'; Monumental Television Attached". Deadline. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  8. Barnett, Laura (16 November 2011). "Is the UEA creative writing course still the best?". The Guardian.
  9. Ganeshananthan, V. V. (8 May 2015). "'Where Women Are Kings,' by Christie Watson". The New York Times.
  10. Case, Molly (29 April 2018). "The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story by Christie Watson – review". The Observer.
  11. "Book of the Week". BBC Radio 4. 8 May 2018.
  12. Brown, Helen (29 September 2020). "The Courage to Care by Christie Watson review: when will we start listening to nurses?". The Telegraph.
  13. Duguid, Stacey (5 June 2022). "The gritty, funny perimenopause memoir that saw inside my soul". The Telegraph.
  14. Brown, Lauren (20 March 2022). "W&N lands three from award-winning Watson". The Bookseller.
  15. Sanderson, Joan Smith | Mark (6 April 2024). "New crime fiction for March — crisis in casualty". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  16. Flood, Alison (17 March 2024). "Crime and thrillers of the month – review | Crime fiction | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  17. Wilson, Laura (22 March 2024). "The best recent crime and thrillers – review roundup | Crime fiction | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  18. "Christie Watson". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  19. "Christie Watson". The Telegraph. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  20. Watson, Christie (13 October 2020). "Is This a Good Time to Be Born? Comparatively Speaking, Yes". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  21. "Christie Watson: What Makes Us Human". BBC Radio 2. 17 February 2021.
  22. "Nurse Shares Stories From Her 20 Year Career on the NHS | Lorraine". 16 August 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2023 via YouTube.
  23. "Christie Watson at #RCNCongress 2018 | Royal College of Nursing". 15 May 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2023 via YouTube.
  24. Watson, Christie (October 2021). "What nurses can teach us". TEDxVienna. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  25. "An Extra Pair of Hands: Friendship and Care". www.southbankcentre.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  26. "Watch online: Christie Watson: Wild At Heart". www.edbookfest.co.uk. August 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  27. "Our Patron | RCN Foundation | Royal College of Nursing". The Royal College of Nursing. Retrieved 5 November 2023.