Karen Press

Karen Press (born 1956) is a South African poet and translator.^[1]

Karen Press
Born	1956 (age 68–69)
Nationality	South African
Occupation(s)	Poet, translator
Awards	South African Literary Award

She was born in Cape Town, and lives in Sea Point. Press is a full-time writer and editor, having published ten collections of poetry,^[2] a film script, short stories, as well as educational material and textbooks in the fields of science, mathematics, English and economics.^[3] She also translated poetry from Afrikaans, primarily work by Antjie Krog.^[2]

In 1987 she co-founded the publishing collective Buchu Books.^[3]

Antjie Krog described her poems in The Museum of Working Life as "a haunting museum constructed in Press's delicate tone and vivid poetic intelligence."^[4]

Poetry

• Emergency Declarations (found poems, co-produced with Ingrid de Kok, 1985)
• This Winter Coming (Cinnamon Crocodile, 1986)
• Bird Heart Stoning the Sea (Buchu Books, 1990)^[5]
• History is the dispossession of the heart (Cinnamon Crocodile, 1992)
• The Coffee Shop Poems (Snailpress, 1993)
• Echo Location - a guide to Sea Point for residents and visitors (Gecko Books, 1998)^[6][7]
• Home (Carcanet, 2000)^[5]
• The Little Museum of Working Life (Deep South, 2004)
• The Canary’s Songbook (Carcanet, 2005)
• Slowly, As If (Carcanet, 2012)

Awards

Press received the Literary Translators Award in the 2015 South African Literary Awards for translation of Mede-wete and Synapse by Antjie Krog.^[8]

References

1. Press, Karen (December 1994). "Poetry Journals in South Africa, 1994". New Coin. Archived from the original on 29 May 2005. Retrieved 22 August 2008.
2. "Karen Press". S. A. Literary Awards.
3. "Karen Press". Poetry International. Poetry International Foundation. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
4. "Poetry", Mail & Guardian, 8 December 2004
5. Sole, Kelwyn (Winter 1996). "Bird Hearts Taking Wing: Trends in Contemporary South African Poetry Written in English". World Literature Today. 70 (1): 26, 31. doi:10.2307/40151848. JSTOR 40151848.
6. West, Mary (May 2006). "The Co-Ordinates of (Post-) Colonial Whiteness: A Reading of Karen Press's "Echo Location: A Guide to Sea Point for Residents and Visitors (1998)"". English in Africa. 33 (1): 93–111. ISSN 0376-8902. JSTOR 40399025.
7. Dove, Rita (4 February 2001). "Survival guide found in poet's words". Palm Beach Daily News. Palm Beach, Florida. p. 20. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
8. Jennifer (9 November 2015). "2015 South African Literary Awards (SALAs) Winners Announced". Retrieved 8 October 2019.

External links