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CarolAnn "C. A." Davids (born 1971) is a South African writer and editor who is best known for her novels The Blacks of Cape Town, (2013), How To Be A Revolutionary, (2022) and her short stories.

Career and philosophy

Born in 1971 in Cape Town, South Africa, Davids is a novelist, editor and writer. She previously worked in arts marketing as the marketing manager for the Baxter Theatre Centre at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and communications manager for the Alexander Kasser Theatre at Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, USA. Before that, she worked as an advertising and promotions manager for Levi Strauss SA.

Davids has contributed to publications such as Lapham's Quarterly, the Johannesburg Review of Books, the South African Sunday Times and Wasafiri, and her writing has appeared in anthologies such as Twist, an anthology of short stories by South African women (published by Struik, October 2006) and in African Pens: New Writing from Southern Africa (published by New Africa Books, April 2007). Davids has lived in Switzerland, the United States of America and Shanghai, China, and now resides on the edge of District Six in Cape Town, South Africa. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Her debut novel The Blacks of Cape Town received a positive critical reception in 2013.

Davids is as strong advocate of South African literature:

I would love to see a concerted, co-ordinated effort from civil society, writers, publishers, government and nongovernmental organisations to alter our reading habits (and trajectory) and the space given to literature in our country. It can and has been done elsewhere … but we would need to work together and plan 20 years into the future.

Recognition

Davids has been shortlisted for the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize 2013, longlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize 2013; longlisted for the inaugural Kwani? Manuscript Project, and shortlisted for the EU Literary Award in 2012.

How To Be A Revolutionary won the prestigious Sunday Times Literary Award for best fiction in 2022.

Personal life

Davids lives with her husband and two children in Cape Town, South Africa.

Bibliography

Fiction

• The Blacks of Cape Town (Modjaji Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1-920590-38-3)
• How to be a Revolutionary (Verso Books, 2022, ISBN 9781839760877)

Short stories

• Short story in Twist (2006)
• "Nostalgia" in African Pens: New Writing from Southern Africa (2007)

References

1. Smith, James (13 August 2014). "Lauren Beukes and C.A. Davids at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, 9 Aug, 2014". Africa in Words. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
2. Davids, CA (15 November 2021). "How to Be a Revolutionary". Granta. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
3. ^ "C.A. Davids". Lapham's Quarterly.
4. "Author: CA Davids". Johannesburg Review of Books. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
5. "C.A. Davids". APL (Ayesha Pande Literary). Retrieved 20 January 2022.
6. Davids, C.A. (29 June 2021). "The Bend in the Arc". Wasafiri. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
7. "African Pens; New Writing from Southern Africa, 2007 | Pessimism in African Pens 2007". African Writing Online (4). ISSN 1754-6672.
8. "Book Launch: The Blacks of Cape Town by CA Davids". Modjaji Books. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
9. ^ "Author's Notes: CA Davids". Mail and Guardian. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
10. "C A Davids : The Blacks of Cape Town". Writerstories TV. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
11. Zvomuya, Percy (8 November 2013). "Davids is turning back on black". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
12. Carolyn (3 June 2014). "Shortlists for the 2013/2014 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing in English". Books LIVE.
13. "Longlist". The Kwani? Manuscript Project. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
14. De Villiers, Mila (1 November 2023). "Here are the winners of the 2023 Sunday Times Literary Awards". Sunday Times (South Africa). Retrieved 3 November 2023.
15. Davids, CA (15 November 2021). "How to Be a Revolutionary". Granta. Retrieved 20 January 2022.

• 1971 births
• Living people
• 21st-century South African novelists
• 21st-century South African women writers
• South African women novelists
• University of Cape Town alumni