Born in Germany in the 1960s to war-traumatised parents, Martina grew up in middle class suburbia, surrounded by loaded silences and unacknowledged prejudice. For as long as she can remember, writing has been her go-to-place, allowing her to express the unthinkable and make sense of her feelings. She first came to South Africa on a holiday after the first democratic elections, missed her flight back and never left. Her writing career includes making up Chinese subtitles for Swedish porn and plotting weekly murders for a radio mystery-show in Berlin. She lives in Cape Town with her partner and their three children. Born and bred in Gugulethu, South Africa, Tumi grew up in the last years of apartheid, grappling from an early age with issues of social injustice and racism. Motivated to understand and challenge herself and those around her, she co-founded "This Dialogue Thing" , studied psychology and took up boxing. She recently submitted her masters thesis and lives with her partner and their child in Somerset West.