Christie Watson is a British writer and Professor of Medical Humanities at the University of East Anglia.[1] She has written six books including her first novel Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, which won the Costa First Novel Award,[2][3] and first memoir The Language of Kindness which was a Number One Sunday Times Bestseller.[4] Her work has been translated into 23 languages and adapted for theatre.[5]
Her nursing career included Great Ormond Street Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital.
She won the Malcolm Bradbury Bursary, which enabled her to take an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia, from where she graduated in 2009.[6]
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 (2014), also won critical praise and has been widely translated.[7]
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 and spent over five months in The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller list.[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.
Watson published two further memoirs to critical acclaim: The Courage to Care and Quilt on Fire both receiving five-star critical reviews.[10][11]
Weidenfeld & Nicolson have acquired three novels from Watson in a major deal: the first of which Moral Injuries will be published in 2024.[12]
Watson lives in London. She is a contributor to the media including The Guardian,[13] The Telegraph,[14] The New York Times,[15] and has been a guest speaker for various radio and television shows including BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 2,[16] BBC news, Sky News, The Lorraine Show.[17]
She has delivered speeches across the UK, including the keynote speech at Royal College of Nursing Conference,[18] and TedX.[19]
She appears regularly at literary festivals, for example, Hay, Southbank,[20] and Edinburgh.[21]
| Achievement | Year |
|---|---|
| University of East Anglia - Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa | 2018 |
| Shortlisted BBI Narrative Non-Fiction Book of the Year | 2018 |
| Shortlisted IBW Adult Book Award | 2018 |
| Marie Claire Magazine – Future Shaper Award | 2018 |
| Waverton Good Read Award | 2013 |
| Red Magazine’s Hot Woman of the Year (Creative) | 2012 |
| Costa First Novel Award | 2012 |
Christie Watson is Patron of the Royal College of Nursing Foundation.[22]
