Nadia Davids

Davids was born in 1977{{cite web|url=https://argief.litnet.co.za/article.php?news_id=47218|title=Nadia Davids brings Cissie home to the Baxter Theatre|website=LitNet-argief (2006–2012)|access-date=20 November 2022}} in Cape Town, South Africa, where she grew up. She was educated first at Zonnebloem Girls School – one of the oldest, most storied schools in the Cape, located at the edge of District Six – and later at St Cyprian's School. She has recalled: "As a child, performance and reading were my preferred modes of imaginative play. ...I staged lots of plays with my sister and the neighbourhood kids. In my final year of high school, in 1995, I took my first play to the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. It was a devised work using South African poetry, projected photographs, dance and narration to chart the country’s transition from Apartheid to democracy. I would not dare approach anything on that scale today…the audacity of youth! As an adult, when I write about a political landscape, its usually within the context of intimate relationships."{{cite web|url=https://republic.com.ng/august-september-2024/first-draft-nadia-davids/|title='Plays Are an Astonishingly Intimate Way of Experiencing Art and Time' – Nadia Davids' First Draft|website=The Republic|date=9 August 2024|access-date=18 September 2024}}

In June 2008, she received a PhD in drama from the University of Cape Town (UCT) for her thesis entitled "Inherited Memories; Performing the Archive", which explored the history, memory and trauma of forced removals from District Six under the Group Areas Act during the Apartheid era in South Africa, through the lens of performance and a pioneering reading of Marianne Hirsch's theory of "post memory" onto the landscape of District Six.

Davids held a Mellon Fellowship between 2000 and 2005, and was a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley (2001) and New York University (2004–05).[http://wicombandthetranslocal.wordpress.com/speakers/nadia-davids/ "Zoe Wicomb and the Translocal: Scotland and South Africa"] (13 September 2012), University of York. She won a Philip Leverhulme Prize in 2013.[http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/newsevents/news/items/116056.html "Leverhulme Success for our Academics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044148/http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/newsevents/news/items/116056.html |date=4 March 2016 }}, Queen Mary University of London, 1 November 2013.

She was one of 10 playwrights participating in the New York-based Women's Project Theater's Playwrights' Lab for 2008–10.[http://wptheater.org/lab/playwrights/ Playwrights], Women's Project Theater.

She took up a full-time lecturing position in the Drama Department at the Queen Mary University of London in September 2009.[http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/staff/davidsn.html "Dr Nadia Davids, PhD (Cape Town), Lecturer in Drama"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730235141/http://www.sed.qmul.ac.uk/staff/davidsn.html |date=30 July 2017 }}, Queen Mary University of London. In 2018, she joined the University of Cape Town's English Department as an associate professor where she lectured until June 2022.

In July 2017, Davids was elected president of PEN South Africa, taking over tenure from Margie Orford.{{Cite web|url=http://pensouthafrica.co.za/nadia-davids-and-members-of-the-board-thank-margie-orford/|title=Nadia Davids and Members of the Board Thank Margie Orford {{!}} PEN South Africa|last=LindsayC|website=pensouthafrica.co.za|language=en-US|date=31 July 2017|access-date=3 January 2018}} In 2020, Davids initiated the organisation's podcast "The Empty Chair", which brings together South African and American writers in conversation about literature and social justice,[https://pensouthafrica.co.za/category/podcast/ Podcast], PEN South Africa.{{Cite web|url=https://pensouthafrica.co.za/pen-sa-podcast-the-empty-chair/|title= PEN SA Podcast: The Empty Chair}} and by 2023, it was among the top 15 per cent of podcasts listened to globally. In July 2024, Davids stepped down as the organization's president, welcoming Bongani Kona as the incoming new president of PEN South Africa.

On 17 September 2024, Davids was announced as the winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story "Bridling", originally published in the Georgia Review in 2023.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/nadia-davids-wins-the-2024-caine-prize-for-african-writing|title=Nadia Davids wins the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing|magazine=The Bookseller|date=17 September 2024|first=|last=Heloise Wood|access-date=17 September 2024}}{{cite magazine|url=https://thegeorgiareview.com/posts/bridling/|title=Bridling|first=Nadia|last=Davids|magazine=Georgia Review|date=Fall 2023|access-date=18 September 2024}} Chika Unigwe, the chair of the judging panel – which also included Julianknxx, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Tumi Molekane (aka Stogie T), and Ayesha Harruna Attah – described the story as "an impressive achievement, a triumph of language, storytelling and risk-taking while maintaining a tightly controlled narrative about women who rebel. It embodies the spirit of the Caine Prize, which is to celebrate the richness and diversity of short stories by African writers. That is to say, to challenge the single story of African literature."{{cite press release|url=https://www.caineprize.com/press-releases/2024/9/16/south-african-writer-nadia-davids-wins-the-2024-caine-prize-for-african-writing|title=South African Writer Nadia Davids wins the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing|publisher=The Caine Prize for African Writing|date=17 September 2024|access-date=23 September 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://brittlepaper.com/2024/09/south-african-nadia-davids-wins-2024-caine-prize-for-african-writing/|title=South Africa's Nadia Davids Wins the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing!|first=Blue|last=Noeske|website=Brittle Paper|date=17 September 2024|access-date=17 September 2024}}

Davids currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Davids' work is disseminated through a variety of forms – journal articles, live performances, published play texts, film documentaries, a novel – to a range of audiences (commercial, academic/educational).

At Her Feet (2002–12), a one-woman show centred on Cape Muslim women's identities post 9/11 performed by acclaimed South African actor Quanita Adams, and Cissie (2008–11), a play exploring feminist biography, the historiography of District Six, and archival storytelling through the theatrical imagining of anti-apartheid activist Cissie Gool's life, serve as good examples. At Her Feet first played at the Arena Theatre in 2002 and Cissie debuted at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July 2008.

Both works have garnered theatre awards and nominations (five Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards, one Noma, one Naledi), and have been staged internationally (in Africa, Europe, the United States at venues such as Market Theatre, Baxter Theatre, Southbank Centre, and at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival, Afrovibes, and the London Book Fair). The plays are studied at a range of universities (University of Cape Town, Stanford University, New York University, SOAS, University of Warwick and York University) and are high-school set-works throughout South Africa. They are understood within these contexts as opening up unexpected spaces in which the lives of South African — specifically Muslim Capetonian — women, assume the central focus. At Her Feet was one of the first theatrical works to emerge in response to 9/11 and remains one of the only plays narrating the lives of Capetonian Muslim women. Described by Njabulo Ndebele as "Unforgettable... Art of the highest order", it returned to the Baxter in 2018 for its final run, starring Quanita Adams.[https://www.facebook.com/baxtertheatre/videos/2232588173689868/ "AT HER FEET] [22 Nov - 8 Dec 2018]", Baxter Theatre.

Davids' first novel, An Imperfect Blessing, was published in April 2014 by Random House Struik-Umuzi,Amanda, [http://umuzi.bookslive.co.za/blog/2013/10/02/umuzi-acquires-acclaimed-playwright-nadia-davids-debut-novel-an-imperfect-blessing/ "Umuzi Acquires Acclaimed Playwright Nadia Davids’ Debut Novel, An Imperfect Blessing"], Books Live, 2 October 2013. and in December 2014 was announced as one of three books shortlisted for the Etisalat Prize for Literature.[http://prize.etisalat.com.ng/2014-shortlist-announced/ "2014 Shortlist Announced"], Etisalat Prize for Literature.{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150925053005/http://www.sabinews.com/the-etisalat-prize-is-a-real-force-for-good-nadia-davids/ "The Etisalat Prize is a real force for good – Nadia Davids"]}}, Sabi News, 4 September 2015. The novel was longlisted for the Sunday Times Award[http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2015/04/06/the-2015-sunday-times-barry-ronge-fiction-prize-longlist/ "The 2015 Sunday Times Barry Ronge Fiction Prize Longlist"], Books Live, 6 April 2015. and shortlisted for the UJ Prize.[http://bookslive.co.za/blog/2015/05/18/the-shortlists-for-the-20142015-university-of-johannesburg-prizes-for-south-african-writing-english/ "The Shortlists for the 2014/2015 University of Johannesburg Prizes for South African Writing (English)"], Books Live, 18 May 2015.

At the end of 2014, she began writing her play What Remains – about slavery at the Cape, "and the haunted city, about ghosts and property developers, about archives and madness, about history, memory and magic, about paintings, protests and the now"{{cite journal|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2017/07/03/it-began-with-a-burial-site-nadia-davids-on-her-new-work-what-remains-a-play-about-slavery-and-the-haunted-city/|title=‘It began with a burial site’: Nadia Davids on her new work, What Remains, a play about slavery and the haunted city|first=Nadia|last=Davids|journal=The Johannesburg Review of Books|date=3 July 2017|access-date=16 October 2024}} – which was staged at the Main Festival at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in 2017, directed by Jay Pather, and featuring Denise Newman, Faniswa Yisa, Shaun Oelf and Buhle Ngaba.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/capetimes/arts-portal/remembering-a-past-from-what-remains-10058888|title=Remembering a past from 'What Remains' | Cape Times|first=Orielle|last=Berry|date=30 June 2017|website=www.iol.co.za}} Sold out at Grahamstown, the play went on to a sold-out run at Hiddingh Hall in Cape Town, and was performed at the 2017 Afrovibes Festival in Holland. What Remains was hailed as a "beautiful masterpiece" in the Cape Times; it was later nominated for seven Fleur du Cap Theatre awards and won five, including Best New South African Play, Best Director, Best Ensemble, Best Actress and Best Lighting Design. An extract of What Remains appears in Margaret Busby's 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa.[https://pensouthafrica.co.za/new-daughters-of-africa-edited-by-margaret-busby/ "New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby"], PEN South Africa, 6 August 2019.

In May 2016, Davids hosted a BBC podcast on Shakespeare in South Africa.{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b079rbcs|title=South Africa, Shakespeare In... - BBC Radio 4|website=BBC|access-date=3 January 2018}}

In 2022, the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town staged her most recent play, Hold Still, "a challenging take on issues of migrancy, as seen through the eyes of a family still haunted by the ghosts of the past".{{cite web|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-11-16-hold-still-is-a-provocative-new-drama-by-esteemed-playwright-nadia-davids/|title='Hold Still' is a provocative new drama by esteemed playwright Nadia Davids |website=Daily Maverick|first=Sarah|last=Hoek|date=16 November 2022|access-date=20 November 2022}} Davids' script was described as "a work of beauty – lyrical, smart, contemporary, questioning"{{cite web|url=https://weekendspecial.co.za/hold-still-review-baxter/|title= 'HOLD STILL REVIEW' |website=Weekend Special|first=Karen|last=Rutter|date=15 November 2022|access-date=3 January 2023}} and as "dramatically taut but carves a space for lyricism, with sharp exchanges of dialogue offset by poetic monologues. It is also, by turns, poignant and politically astute; it tackles current affairs head-on without pontificating or compromising the audience's immersion in the world of the play."{{cite web|url=https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2022-11-18-chris-thurman-a-brutal-mirror-image-to-left-liberal-hypocrisy//|title= 'A brutal mirror image to left-liberal hypocrisy' |website=Business Day|first=Chris|last=Thurman|date=18 November 2022|access-date=3 January 2023}}

• Winner of the Rosalie van der Gught Prize at the Fleur de Cap Awards in the category of Best New Director in 2004 for At her Feet {{Cite web |date=23 March 2004 |title=At her feet |url=https://www.iol.co.za/entertainment/whats-on/at-her-feet-919954 |access-date=11 May 2023 |website=IOL}}
• Finalist in the South Africa Pen Award adjudicated by Nobel Prize laureate J. M. Coetzee for her short story "Safe Home" in 2006, and in 2009 she was placed third for "The Visit"{{cite web|url=https://pensouthafrica.co.za/new-writing-from-africa-2009/|title=New Writing from Africa (2009)|publisher=PEN South Africa|date=9 April 2009|access-date=6 March 2024}}
• Nominated for the Noma Award for her play At Her Feet in 2007[http://framingmuslims.org/related-events/235-at-her-feet-by-nadia-davids-southbank-centre-london-3-5-october-2012.html {{"'}}At Her Feet' by Nadia Davids, Southbank Centre London, 3–5 October 2012"], Framing Muslims, 11 October 2012.
• Nominated for three Fleur du Cap Awards, including "Best New South African Play" for Cissie in 2008{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• Philip Leverhulme Prize for her research on Prestwich Place, a slave-burial ground in Cape Town{{Cite web |date= |title= Philip Leverhulme Prizes 2013|url=https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/philip-leverhulme-prizes-2013|access-date=26 February 2025 |language=en-ZA}}
• Nominated for seven Fleur du Cap Awards for What Remains in 2017. The play went on to win in five categories: Best New South African Play (Nadia Davids), Best Director (Jay Pather), Best Ensemble, Best Actress (Faniswa Yisa) and Best Lighting Design (Wilhelm Disbergan).{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
• 2020 Olive Schreiner Prize for Drama, for What Remains: A Play in One Act{{Cite web |date=2020-05-12 |title=Awards and Prizes - English Academy of Southern Africa |url=https://englishacademy.co.za/awards-and-prizes/ |access-date=2022-09-11 |language=en-ZA}}
• 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing, for "Bridling"{{Cite web |date=17 September 2024 |title=[The JRB Daily] ‘A triumph of language, storytelling and risk-taking’—South African writer Nadia Davids wins 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing|url=https://johannesburgreviewofbooks.com/2024/09/17/the-jrb-daily-a-triumph-of-language-storytelling-and-risk-taking-south-african-writer-nadia-davids-wins-2024-caine-prize-for-african-writing/|access-date=26 February 2025 |language=en-ZA}}

• An Imperfect Blessing (novel), Random House Struik-Umuzi, 2014

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.nadiadavids.com/ Nadia Davids' website]
• [https://theconversation.com/caine-prize-for-african-writing-nadia-davids-on-her-winning-story-about-women-and-freedom-239504 "Caine Prize for African Writing: Nadia Davids on her winning story about women and freedom"], The Conversation, 22 September 2024.

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Category:1977 births

Category:21st-century dramatists and playwrights

Category:21st-century South African novelists

Category:21st-century South African women writers

Category:Living people

Category:Philip Leverhulme Prize winners

Category:South African dramatists and playwrights

Category:South African Muslims

Category:South African short story writers

Category:South African women dramatists and playwrights

Category:South African women novelists

Category:South African women short story writers

Category:University of Cape Town alumni

Category:Writers from Cape Town