Karen Jennings

Karen Jennings is a South African author. Her debut novel, Finding Soutbek, was shortlisted for the inaugural Etisalat Prize for African Fiction

Her memoir, Travels with My Father, was published in 2016. In 2018 she released her debut poetry collection, Space Inhabited by Echoes. Jennings works with the mentorship programmes run by Writivism and Short Story Day Africa, both of which promote writing in Africa. Her interests lie in colonialism, historically and in the lasting impact that it has had on the continent of Africa and beyond.

I remember very little about writing this book other than walking the dogs every morning and muttering to myself, almost as a chant: 'This book is going to kill me, this book is going to kill me'

Karen Jennings, Booker Prize Q&A, 2021