Brent Meersman was born in Cape Town, South Africa. His first job was as a press photographer in Grahamstown in 1989. His first novel Primary Coloured (Human & Rousseau) was published in 2007, followed by Reports Before Daybreak (Umuzi/Random House)and Five Lives at Noon (Missing Ink, 2013). Since 2003, he writes for the national weekly, the Mail & Guardian. He is a compulsive traveller; at last count he’d been to 60 countries and travelled around all the continents, including the Antarctic. His latest book, 80 Gays around the World, is based on these experiences.
His poetry collection Ophila and the Poet and other poems (Junket Press, 2010) includes poems that have appeared in New Contrast, New Contact, Botsotso, and Green Dragon. His short stories have appeared in What Love Is (Arcadia Books, London, 2011); his first published story was in The Invisible Ghetto (COSAW, 1993). He also wrote the libretto for Credo, an oratorio with music composed by Bongani Ndodana-Breen.
He has a regular column with This is Africa magazine and is co-editor of GroundUp.org.za. He has written extensively for New Africa Analysis magazine, London, reviewed work for the BBC and the London Financial Times, and contributed to the Sunday Independent, Business Day, The Witness, Cape Times, Die Burger, The Weekender, The Wry Republic, Politicsweb, and The M&G Thought Leader.
Brent Meersman titles available from Missing Ink: