Finuala Dowling is a South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

n poet and writer.

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

University of Cape Town

The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...

 before lecturing in English at the University of South Africa

University of South Africa

The University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...

 for eight years. Her first poetry anthology, I Flying was published in 2002 and won the Ingrid Jonker Prize

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....

, and she has also won the Sanlam Award and the Olive Schreiner Prize

Olive Schreiner Prize

The Olive Schreiner Prize is an annual award to new and emergent talent administered by the English Academy of South Africa.-Award winners:*2010 Poetry Finuala Dowling Notes from the Dementia Ward*2009 Prose Michael Cawood Green For The Sake of Silence...

.

Poetry

• I Flying, Carapace (2002)
• Doo-wop Girls of the Universe, Penguin (2006)
• Notes from the Dementia Ward, Kwela Books/Snailpress (2008)

Prose

• What Poets Need, Penguin (2005)
• Flyleaf Penguin (2007)
• Homemaking for the Down-at-Heart, Kwela Books (2011)

Anthologies

• Portraits of African Writers (by George Hallett), Wits University Press (2006)
• Lovely Beyond Any Singing: Landscape in South African Literature, Double Storey (2006)

Awards

• Sanlam Award for poetry for Doo-wah Girl of the Universe (2003)
• Ingrid Jonker Prize
  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....
  
   for I Flying (2004)
• Olive Schreiner Prize
  Olive Schreiner Prize
  The Olive Schreiner Prize is an annual award to new and emergent talent administered by the English Academy of South Africa.-Award winners:*2010 Poetry Finuala Dowling Notes from the Dementia Ward*2009 Prose Michael Cawood Green For The Sake of Silence...
  
  for Notes from the Dementia Ward (2010)