Read an interview with Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards-shortlisted Dawn Garisch in the latest issue of Wits Review (p. 72).
‘It took the Booker to introduce South Africans to their own Karen Jennings’, writes Jean Meiring
This year’s discovery, though, is Jennings (born 1982), who, in spite of having produced several excellent earlier books, has not been afforded the acclaim in South Africa that she deserves. The truth of the hoary adage that a prophet is rarely hallowed in her own land rings especially true, it would seem, of South Africans who write literary fiction in English.
[…]
Whether Jennings’ name appears on the shortlist that will be announced in London tomorrow afternoon or not, one can only hope that her longlisting will have changed the trajectory of her career: that she will never again have to make out a case to be published. And never again be published in print runs of only 500.
LitNet
Karen Jennings in conversation with Karin Schimke on FMR’s Book Choice
You can listen to the interview from minute 39:00: BOOK CHOICE – enjoy!
Bongani Kona interviews Karen Jennings for New Frame
“We don’t need to wait for people from other countries to tell us which African author is worth reading,” she said. “No one would wait for a Zimbabwean writer to decide who is the best Irish writer.”
New Frame
Jennifer Malec interviews Karen Jennings for the JRB
“I do like Samuel, because he is incredibly human. He is an ordinary man. He has made mistakes; terrible ones. But he is a man trying to find a place for himself in the world, just as we all are. No one is all good or all bad. We are all only trying as best we can to make a home for ourselves in which we feel safe and where we feel we belong. But, of course, this is not determined by ourselves alone. The past plays a role in our identity, as do our economic, social, cultural, political circumstances. All of these things have an influence on us, whether we like to admit it or not.”
JRB
Karen Jennings interviewed by Phumi Ramalepe for Business Insider SA
“… Unlike many authors who measure the success of a book based on sales figures, Jennings believes it’s all about how you feel about your work.
‘For me, it depends on how I feel about any manuscript once I have finally finished writing the various drafts. If I get to the end and feel a thrill pass through me, then I am satisfied,’ she said.
‘I enjoy that feeling because it doesn’t last very long. I think many writers, or artists in general, have this sense that their work is never good enough,’ Jennings added.”
Business Insider SA
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