Biography

Karen Press was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She has worked as a teacher of mathematics and English, and since 1981 has been involved with a range of progressive education projects. She has published seven collections of poetry and has also written textbooks and other education materials in the fields of mathematics, science, economics and English, as well as children’s stories, a film script and stories for newly-literate adults. In 1987 she co-founded the publishing collective Buchu Books. Karen currently works as a freelance editor and writer, and is involved in an initiative to set up a national advice and information support service for South African writers, The Writers’ Network.