Catrin Kean or Catrin Clarke is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

writer. Her debut novel ''Salt'' won the Wales Book of the Year in 2021. Writing as Catrin Clarke, she won a

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

award for screenwriting in 2003 for her work on the

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

drama '' Belonging''.

Early life

Kean was born in Wales, and is of

, Irish and Bajan heritage. She is based in Cardiff.

Career

Kean is a scriptwriter who has written for film, television and radio, with credits including '' Casualty'', '' Mistresses'' and '' Wolfblood''. Kean's first novel ''Salt'' was published by

Gomer Press Gomer Press (Welsh: ''Gwasg Gomer'') is a family printing (and formerly publishing) company based in Llandysul, west Wales. It was the largest publishing house in Wales. History The company was first established in 1892 and began as a general sto ...

in 2020. The novel tells the story of the author's Welsh great-grandmother Ellen meeting and marrying her great-grandfather Samuel, a ship’s cook from Barbados, in 1878 and subsequently travelling with him at sea. Dealing with themes of racism, class and British hegemony, ''Salt'' was praised by ''

Nation.Cymru Nation.Cymru () is a Welsh news service established in 2017 with the aim of creating a national English-language news service for Wales. It receives £20,000 a year from the Books Council of Wales and the rest of its financial support comes from ...

'' as 'a novel for our times' in light of the Black Lives Matter movement, while '' Wales Arts Review'' called it 'a gripping love story of significant cultural importance...set against the intergenerational, inherited trauma caused by slavery and colonialism.' At the 2021 Wales Book of the Year Awards, ''Salt'' won the 'triple crown': taking the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award, the ''Wales Arts Review'' People's Choice Award and the overall prize for Wales Book of the Year.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Salt'' (2020)

Short fiction

* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kean, Catrin Living people Welsh women novelists 21st-century Welsh women writers Year of birth missing (living people) Welsh short story writers 21st-century Welsh novelists