Finuala Dowling (born June 1962) is a South African poet and writer.

Biography

The seventh of eight children born to radio broadcasters Eve van der Byl and Paddy Dowling, Finuala Dowling obtained an MA in English from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

(UCT), and a D.Litt. from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

(UNISA), where she lectured in English for eight years. Her first poetry anthology, ''I Flying'', was published in 2002 and won the

Ingrid Jonker Prize The Ingrid Jonker Prize is a literary prize for the best debut work of Afrikaans or English poetry. It was instituted in honour of Ingrid Jonker after her death in 1965. The yearly prize, consisting of R10,000 and a medal, is awarded alternatel ...

. She has also won the Sanlam Award for Poetry and the Olive Schreiner Prize. She won the 2012

M-Net Literary Award M-Net Literary Awards were a group of South African literary awards, awarded from 1991 to 2013. They were established and sponsored by M-Net (Electronic Media Network), a South African television station. The award was suspended indefinitely a ...

(English category) for ''Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart''. With Tessa and Cara Dowling she has set up an entertainment company, Dowling Sisters Productions.

Family

Dowling lives in Kalk Bay, Cape Town with her daughter Beatrice, who also writes poetry.

Publications

Poetry

*''I Flying'', Carapace (2002) *''Doo-Wop Girls of the Universe'', Penguin (2006) *''Notes from the Dementia Ward'', Kwela Books/Snailpress (2008) *''Pretend You Don't Know Me: New and Selected Poems'', Bloodaxe Books (2018)

Novels

*''What Poets Need'', Penguin (2005) *''Flyleaf'', Penguin (2007) *''Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart'', Kwela Books (2011) *''The Fetch'', Kwela Books (2015) *''Okay, Okay, Okay'', Kwela Books (2019) *''The Man Who Loved Crocodile Tamers'' (2022) (Featuring the "female fakir" Koringa)

Appearances in anthologies

*''Portraits of African Writers'', ed. George Hallett, Wits University Press (2006) *''Lovely Beyond Any Singing: Landscape in South African Literature'', Helen Moffett, Double Storey (2006)

Awards

Source: *

for ''I Flying'' (2004) *Sanlam Award for Poetry for ''Doo-Wop Girls of the Universe'' (2006) * Olive Schreiner Prize for ''Notes from the Dementia Ward'' (2010)"Finuala Dowling"
, nb. *

(English category) for ''Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart'' (2012) * Herman Charles Bosman Award for ''The Fetch''

References

External links

* 1962 births South African women poets Living people 21st-century South African poets 21st-century South African women writers Writers from Cape Town {{SouthAfrica-poet-stub