Michelle is, amongst other things, a South African writer. She lives at the southern tip of Africa in the coastal village of Kommetjie, Cape Town, with her husband and daughter. They live on the border of a national park and happily share their home with an assortment of pets and wildlife.

Michelle is a graduate from the University of Kwazulu Natal and currently works in the field of environmental communications and media. She began writing short stories in her spare time, in 2008, and has not looked back.

Michelle had five stories published in YOU magazine, South Africa’s top-selling English language magazine, over the period of a few years. One of these stories was also selected in 2011 for publication in an anthology of YOU’s best short stories over the last ten years.

Her story, Whispers from the wild, was published by Black Letter Media in the anthology The Short Story is Dead. Long Live the Short Story!, as part of Short Story Day Africa (SSDA) 2012. That year, she was also placed in the top 20 in the international Writers Weekly 24-hour Short Story Contest.

Her story, Burning Woman, was shortlisted for the SSDA 2013 ‘Feast, Famine and Potluck’ writing competition and was published in the SSDA anthology.

In early 2014, Michelle was offered a place, along with about 60 other writers from all over Africa, on the Centre for African Cultural Excellence (CACE) 2014 Writivism programme. Her story, The Gift, was on the longlist of 14 and was published in the 2014 Writivism anthology, Fire in the Night and other stories.

In June 2015, two of Michelle’s stories, Early and The Gift, were selected for publication in the Jalada-Writivism 2015 anthology, My Maths Teacher Hates Me and other stories.

In 2017, Michelle was published by US-based Chicken Soup for the Soul. And in 2018, her children’s story, The Lost Laugh, was published by BookDash. The Lost Laugh has ‘travelled the world’ and been translated into a number of languages. In 2019, Michelle challenged herself to write a wordless children’s book for under two’s, through BookDash. Vuyo  tells the story of one day in the life of happy baby, Vuyo. Hundreds of thousands of copies have been printed and distributed in South Africa and beyond.

Last year, Michelle launched her e-book bi(d)ography about her gorgeous Golden Retriever, Bongo’s, adventurous life and escapades. Dog parents, wannabe dog moms and dads, and those who know and love Golden Retrievers will relate, laugh and commiserate. Half the proceeds are being donated to Golden Retriever Rescue South Africa.

Follow Michelle on Twitter.