Karen Jennings is a South African author of fiction, short stories, poetry, memoirs and essays. In 2021 her novel An Island was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her next novel, Crooked Seeds, came out in 2024 and was longlisted for the Women’s Prize. Her most recent novel, First of December, came out in the UK in 2026. It takes place in Cape Town in the week before the emancipation of the slaves on 1 December 1838. Karen is Chair of Creative Writing at North-West University, South Africa.
