Richard Mason (novelist Born 1977)

Richard Mason (novelist Born 1977)

Richard Mason (born 1978) is a South African novelist and philanthropist.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Mason was ten years old when he moved to England with his parents. He was educated at Eton and New College Oxford. His first novel, The Drowning People, was published during his first year at Oxford, and has since been translated into 22 languages. Mason has written three more novels since "The Drowning People": "Us," "The Lighted Rooms," and "History of a Pleasure Seeker." Mason now lives in New York City.

Mason set up the Kay Mason Foundation, in memory of his sister, who died when he was a child. The aim of the foundation is to make the best education available for young people in South Africa. The foundation has the patronage of Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In 2010, Mason was awarded a Merit in Philanthropy Award at the Inyathelo Philanthropy Awards in Cape Town.

In 2008, Mason set up Project Lulutho on 36 hectares of land in the Tunga Valley in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. Lulutho offers skills transfer, employment opportunities, and the restoration of a ravaged eco-system, to protect and preserve the Eastern Cape landscape. Lulutho is now an established Trust and Public Benefit Organization.