Mary Watson

Mary Watson studied at University of Cape Town and University of Bristol. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is literature. Places of work recorded in the authority are Ireland. Employment is recorded with University of Cape Town. Distinctions recorded are Caine Prize.

• Birth Name — 1975 05 31 • Birthplace — Cape Town, South Africa • Education — University of Cape Town Mary Watson (born 31 May 1975) is a South African author. In 2006 she won the Caine Prize for African Writing and in 2014 was named on the Africa39 list of writers from sub-Saharan Africa aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.

Born in Cape Town, Watson completed her master's degree in creative writing under André Brink at the University of Cape Town. After receiving a second master's degree at the University of Bristol in 2003, she returned to Cape Town where she completed her PhD. She worked as a lecturer in Film Studies at the University of Cape Town between 2004 and 2008. Watson has lived in Galway, Ireland, since 2009.

Watson is the author of Moss, a collection of short stories published in 2004. In 2013, her novel The Cutting Room was published by Penguin South Africa. Her short stories have appeared in several anthologies. In 2006, she won the Caine Prize for her short story "Jungfrau". She was a finalist in the Rolex Protege and Mentorship programme in 2012. In April 2014, Watson was named in the Hay Festival's Africa39 project as one of 39 writers from sub-Saharan Africa aged under 40 with potential and talent to define trends in African literature.

• Moss, Kwela, Cape Town, 2004 • The Cutting Room, Penguin, Johannesburg, 2013 • The Wren Hunt, Bloomsbury, 2018 • The Wickerlight, Bloomsbury, 2019 • Blood to Poison, Bloomsbury, 2022