Mary Watson
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.
Mary Watson
- Birth Name
- 31 May 1975
- Birthplace
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Education
- University of Cape Town
- Born
- 1975 · Cape Town.
- Nationality
- South Africa
- Occupation
- writer
- Fields
- literature
- Honours
- Caine Prize
- Languages
- English
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q6780932
In this article
Biography
Biography
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.
Key facts
Key facts
• Birth Name — 31 May 1975 • Birthplace — Cape Town, South Africa • Education — University of Cape Town
Biography
Biography
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.
Career
Career
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.
Works
Works
• 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
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Text attribution
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Mary Watson (author), revision 1372831891 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 August 2026.
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