Joan Metelerkamp Biography

Joan Metelerkamp was born in 1956, and grew up with her three brothers in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, where her father farmed. She did a BA at the University of Natal, followed by a post-graduate diploma in acting at the University of Cape Town. She then worked for three years in educational drama and another three years teaching in university English departments. In 1990, married with two children, she completed her MA on the poetry of Ruth Miller while teaching at the University of Natal. In 1998 she moved with her family to the Knysna area of the Southern Cape, where she still lives. From 2000 to 2004 (and for one edition in 2008), she edited the poetry journal New Coin.