Joan Metelerkamp
Born in Pretoria in 1956, Joan Metelerkamp grew up in KwaZulu-Natal. She has published six poetry collections: Towing the Line (Carrefour, 1992), which was awarded the 1991 Sanlam Prize for Literature; Stone No More (Gecko Poetry, 1995); Into the day breaking (Gecko Poetry, 2000); Floating Islands (Mokoro, 2001); Requiem (Deep South, 2003) and, most recently, carrying the fire, published by substancebooks in 2005.
Joan has had individual poems published in major South African poetry anthologies and in various international volumes. She has taken part in festivals and poetry readings locally and overseas, including Poetry Africa in 2005. She has been awarded poetry prizes and judged others, has edited the literary journal New Coin for four years, and has written poetry reviews in academic journals and newspapers.
Previously, she worked as an actress and university teacher. She is a wife, mother, sister and daughter, living on her father’s farm in the Goukamma Valley near Knysna in the Southern Cape.