Anthropology Student Named One Of “5 Under 35” Top Young Fiction Writers

By James Devitt

      Ceridwen Dovey, an anthropology doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Arts and Science, was selected by the National Book Foundation as one of its “5 Under 35” young fiction writers for her inaugural novel, Blood Kin (Viking, 2008).
      Dovey and the other authors will be honored at a Nov. 16 celebration at the Powerhouse Arena in Brooklyn. Now in its fourth year, “5 Under 35” is the kick-off event for National Book Awards week. The National Book Foundation is the presenter of the National Book Awards, which will be announced Nov. 18.
      Blood Kin is a tale of a fictional military coup from the perspective of the overthrown leader’s portraitist, chef, and barber—and the significant women in their lives.
      “A lot of books give the perspective of the dictator, such as John Updike’s The Coup,” says Dovey, who grew up in South Africa and Australia. “I wanted to look at power, but from the perspective of those close to power—about how complicity spreads and how others prop up power without getting their hands dirty.”
      Blood Kin won South Africa’s most prestigious literary award—the Sunday Times Fiction Prize—and was short-listed for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Australia-Asia Literary Award. For more on the National Book Awards, go to: www.nationalbook.org.