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Caitlin Davies (born 6 March 1964) is an English author, journalist and teacher. Her parents are Hunter Davies and Margaret Forster, both well-known writers.[1] Hunter Davies wrote regularly about Caitlin and her brother Jake and sister Flora in a weekly Punch magazine column which ran in the 1970s, giving a broad insight into their upbringing. In her youth she was also frequently referred to by Auberon Waugh in his Private Eye diary.

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Caitlin Davies
Born	(1964-03-06) 6 March 1964 (age 58) England
Occupation	Writer, teacher
Relatives	Margaret Forster (mother) Hunter Davies (father)

Davies was associated with Botswana since 1990 when she met her husband, the former Botswana MP Ronald Ridge, while studying for a Master's degree in English at Clark University, USA. Relocating to Botswana and working as a teacher, and then a freelance journalist, she wrote for Botswana's first tabloid newspaper The Voice and then as editor of The Okavango Newspaper. She was twice arrested as a journalist, once for "causing fear and alarm", and acquitted. In 2000, she received an award from the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) "in recognition for consistent and outstanding journalistic work".^{[citation needed]}

While living in Botswana, Davies wrote the novel Jamestown Blues and the historical work The Return of El Negro. The victim of a brutal assault and rape, she was active in research concerning domestic violence in Botswana and a founder member of Women Against Rape (WAR) in Maun.^{[citation needed]}

Davies returned to England with her daughter after divorcing her husband and published a memoir about her experiences, called Place of Reeds.^{[citation needed]} For several years she wrote education and careers features for The Independent.Davies is the author of six novels; Jamestown Blues (1996), Black Mulberries (2008), Friends Like Us (2009), The Ghost of Lily Painter (2011).

Davies wrote an illustrated non-fiction book on the bathing ponds and lido on Hampstead Heath, Taking the Waters: a swim around Hampstead Heath,[2] and a social history of Camden Lock (2013). Her work has appeared in The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, Town and Country and Tate Etc..^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Davies' non-fiction book Downstream: a history and celebration of swimming the River Thames was published.[3] It was described by The Independent as "a fascinating cultural history".^{[citation needed]} It resulted in a three-week Thames swimming showcase at the Museum of London. ^{[citation needed]}Davies' non-fiction book, Bad Girls, is a history of Holloway Prison in north London, once the largest women's prison in Western Europe. ^{[citation needed]} Bad Girls was longlisted for the Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2019.[4]

Davies' latest book is Queens of the Underworld: a journey into the lives of female crooks, published in October 2021.[5] She received a grant from The Author's Foundation, administered by the Society of Authors, to research the book.^{[citation needed]} She is currently researching a history of female private eyes, to be published by The History Press in 2023.

From 2014 to 2017, Davies worked as a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at the University of Westminster. She worked as an RLF Fellow at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum from 2019-2020.[6]

Bibliography

• Jamestown Blues. London; New York: Penguin, 1996.
• The Return of El Negro: the compelling story of Africa's unknown soldier. Penguin Books (South Africa), 2003. Thorold's Africana Books [distributor]
• Summer Magic. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. (short story contributor)
• Place of Reeds. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005.
• Black Mulberries. London: Pocket, 2008.
• Friends like us. London: Pocket, 2009.
• Grandparents. London: Ebury, 2009. (short story contributor)
• The Ghost of Lily Painter. London: Hutchinson, 2011. London : Windmill, 2012.
• Taking the Waters: a Swim around Hampstead Heath. London: Frances Lincoln, 2012.
• Camden Lock and the Market. London: Frances Lincoln, 2013
• Family Likeness. London: Hutchinson, 2013. London: Windmill, 2014, inspired in part by the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle.
• Downstream: a history and celebration of swimming the River Thames. London: Aurum, 2015.
• Bad Girls: a History of Rebels and Renegades. London: John Murray, March 2018.
• Daisy Belle: Swimming Champion of the World. London: Unbound, September 2018.
• Botswana Women Write. South Africa: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, January 2020.
• Queens of the Underworld. London: The History Press, October 2021.

References

External links

• www.caitlindavies.co.uk Author's website
• Museum of London blog
• Profile at the National Portrait Gallery

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