Author of thoughtful, emotionally resonant fiction
Kay Brown is a Johannesburg-based writer whose work explores resilience, family bonds, and the quiet strength required to navigate life’s unexpected turns. Her debut novel, Treading Water, is a deeply moving story of sisterhood, perseverance, and the human capacity to endure.
Featured Book
Treading Water
Set between South Africa and Texas, Treading Water follows two sisters brought together by crisis after years of distance. When betrayal and a life-altering accident force Alison to confront a future she never planned, she must decide whether she can accept help — and whether fractured family ties can be rebuilt.
About Kay
When Kay was undecided what course to follow after matric her mother, an English teacher, advised her to ‘study the sciences. The art will always be there.’ Kay chose Computer Science.
Marriage, two children, five dogs, a cat, a career as a database developer, and several hundred silkworms later, she found that the arts were indeed still there. Pursuing her passion for writing, she earned an MA in Creative Writing from the University of the Witwatersrand with distinction. Her work has appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies, and she was awarded the Van Heerden Award for creativity in 2009 for a co-authored film script. Kay will be adapting this into a new novel – due to be self-published towards the end of the year.
She’s still an active member and a co-facilitator of a long-standing writers’ group.