Karen Jennings (author)

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

Contents

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

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References

  1. 1 2 "Karen Jennings". Holland Park Press. 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 "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.
  14. ↑ Charles, Ron (9 April 2024). "Review | 'Crooked Seeds' is hard to read and impossible to look away from". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  15. ↑ Self, John (2 April 2024). "Crooked Seeds by Karen Jennings review – a perfectly realised fictional creation". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 15 May 2024.
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