Voices From the Gaps - Fall 2007

Zoe Wicomb was born on November 23, 1948 in Namaqualand, South Africa to parents Robert Wicomb and Rachel Le Fleur Wicomb. She lived in a small, remote town situated in a very hot, dry region of the country miles away from any other civilization. Her father worked as a schoolteacher and her mother died when Zoe was very young. She was encouraged to speak English and attended an English speaking school in Capetown. She went to the University of the Western Cape and after graduating, left for England in 1970. She then attended Reading University.

In England she worked as a teacher in Nottingham then moved to Glasgow, Scotland. She returned to South Africa to teach English at the University of the Western Cape for three short years before returning to Scotland to take the position she currently holds as a professor of English at the University of Strathclyde. She lives in Glasgow with Roger Palmer, a professor at the Galsgow School of Art and their daughter Hannah.

She is the author of You Can’t Get Lost in Capetown, David’s Story, Playing in the Light, and various other short stories and essays. Her works have been translated into many languages including French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Swedish.