Karen Jennings

Karen Jennings (born 1982) is a South African author.

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. She has master's degrees in English literature and creative writing from the University of Cape Town, In 2022, Jennings was a postdoctoral writer in residence(Department of History) as part of the Biography of an Uncharted People Project at LEAP, Stellenbosch.

From 2023-2024, Jennings was a postdoctoral writer in residence as part of the Cape Panel Project at the Laboratory for the Economics of Africa’s Past (LEAP), Stellenbosch University.

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

Her novel Crooked Seeds was published across the world by Holland House Books in the UK, Hogarth Books in the US, Pan Macmillan India Picador India, Text Publishing in Australia, Masobe Books in Nigeria, and in South Africa by Karavan Press

In 2025 Crooked Seeds was longlisted for both the Republic of Consciousness Prize and the Women's Prize.

In 2021 Karen Jennings co-founded the Island Prize with Holland House Books; the Prize is intended to enable debut African authors to find agents and publishers, emphasising the importance that 'stories from Africa be given a wide variety of platforms so that they can be shared at home and abroad without the need to fit certain moulds.' (Karen Jennings) With this in mind, Jennings also co-wrote Words on the Page, A Workbook for African Writers with Robert Peett of Holland House Books. The Workbook was designed with African writers in mind, and is a collection of resources, exercises, and discussions aimed at encouraging and developing the creative process.

Jennings runs regular writing workshops and currently lectures Creative Writing at North-West University, Potchefstroom.

Short Stories and Essays Short Stories:

Short story anthology: Away from the Dead London: Holland Park Press, in 2014

Individual short stories :

“Rangton of Bali” to be published in The Woven Tale Press in 2025.

“Runaway” published in New Contrast December 2024.

“In The Dust” published in Isele: In the Dust | Karen Jennings – Isele Magazine. November 2024

“The Incident” published in One Life. Short.Sharp.Stories anthology, Tattoo Press, Cape

Town, 2024.

“Skeleton” published in Lounloun: The Skeleton – lọúnlọún December 2024.

“Vigilante” published in Southword No. 47 in October/November 2024.

“Panties” published in In Other Words, edited by Kerry Hammerton: Karavan Press, Cape

Town, 2024

“Pegu” published by Libretto: PEGU | KAREN JENNINGS - Inspiring Creativity,

Cultivating Excellence (librettong.com) July 2024.

“The Translator” published by Afrocritik: The Translator | Karen Jennings - Afrocritik April

2024.

Essays published in 2024:

“Waiting for Water”: Waiting for water - LitNet

“Without a Leg to Stand on”: Without a Leg to Stand On. Author Karen Jennings talks about

the… | by The Kalahari Review | Kalahari Review

“Washing by Hand”: Washing by hand: a brief look at Cape laundry since the 17th century -

LitNet

“Well, Yes, I Have a Dream”: Well, Yes, I Have a Dream… | Karen Jennings | Essay

(brittlepaper.com)

Awards

Winner English Section of the Maskew Miller Longman Literature Awards, 2009 for "Mia and the Shark" (short story) Winner Africa Region Prize of the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, 2010 for "From Dark" (short story) Shortlisted Etisalat Prize for Literature, 2013 for Finding Soutbek Longlisted Sunday Times Fiction Prize, 2016 for Travels with my Father Longlisted The Booker Prize, 2021 for An Island Co-winner K. Sello Duiker Memorial Award (one of the annual South African Literary Awards), 2021 for An Island Shortlisted Sunday Times Fiction Prize, 2022 for An Island Longlisted Republic of Consciousness Prize, 2025 for Crooked Seeds Longlisted the Women's Prize, 2025 for Crooked Seeds

Works Finding Soutbek (Holland Park Press, 2013, ) – novel Away from the Dead (Holland Park Press, 2014, ) – short stories Travels with My Father: An Autobiographical Novel (Holland Park Press, 2016, ) – novel/memoir Space Inhabited by Echoes (Holland Park Press, 2018, ) – poetry Upturned Earth (Holland Park Press, 2019, ) - novel An Island (Holland House Books, 2020, ) – novel – novel )

Words on the Page co-written with Robert Peett (2025)