Christie Watson

Christie Watson (born 1976) is a British writer and retired nurse. Her first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award in the 2011 Costa Book Awards. Her second novel Where Women Are Kings also won critical praise.[1][2]

Christie Watson, Waterstones, Piccadilly, London, December 2018

Early life and education

Born in Stevenage, she left school at the age of 16 and after volunteering for a year at Scope (then the Spastics Society) went into nursing.[3] She trained at Great Ormond Street Hospital.[4][5]

Career

Watson worked for approximately 20 years as a nurse, but retired to concentrate on writing after a period of combining the two professions.

Nursing

Her nursing career included Great Ormond Street Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital.[4][5][6]

Writing

She won the Malcolm Bradbury Bursary,[4] which enabled her to take an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, from where she graduated in 2009.[7]

Her first novel, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, won the Costa First Novel Award in the 2011 Costa Book Awards.[1]

Her second novel, Where Women Are Kings (2014), also won critical praise and has been widely translated.[2]

In 2018 she published a memoir, The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story, which was broadcast as the "Book of the Week" on BBC Radio 4 in May 2018.[8][9] It was named as a Book of the Year in 2018 by The Guardian, Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, New Statesman, Netgalley and Reading Agency.[10]

Private life

Watson lives in London with her two children. She met her paediatrician partner when they were both working at St Mary's Hospital in west London.[5][6]

Bibliography
  • Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, Quercus, 2011. ISBN 978-1849163750
  • Where Women are Kings, Quercus, 2014. ISBN 978-1849163811
  • Here I Stand, Walker Books, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4063-5838-4
  • The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story, 3 May 2018. ISBN 978-1-5247-6163-9

References
  1. Anita Singh (3 January 2012). "Nurse Christie Watson wins Costa Book Award but won't give up the day job". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  2. "'Where Women Are Kings,' by Christie Watson". 8 May 2015 – via NYTimes.com.
  3. Rosamund urwin, "Interview: Christie Watson, author of Tiny Sunbirds Far Away", The Scotsman, 31 December 2011.
  4. "Christie Watson — About the Author", Foyles.
  5. Nina Lakhani, "Christie Watson: 'Life, death, what makes us human – nursing and writing are about the big questions'", The Independent, 23 January 2012.
  6. "Christie Watson's novel out of Africa", Evening Standard, 29 November 2011.]
  7. Laura Barnett (16 November 2011). "Is the UEA creative writing course still the best?". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  8. Molly Case, "The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story by Christie Watson – review", The Observer, 29 April 2018.
  9. "The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story", Book of the Week, BBC Radio 4, May 2018.
  10. The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story. ASIN 1784741973.
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