Our authors & illustrators
Each series has its own writer and illustrator. Most grew up in South Africa's townships and later lived in Europe, so the two worlds meet on every page. Dr. Schuppert Press, founded by Dr. Schuppert, publishes their work.
Lindiwe grew up in Orlando West, Soweto, a few streets from Vilakazi Street, writing letters to a pen-friend in Germany. She later studied in Bonn for six years and taught German to schoolchildren in Johannesburg. The Bridge is built from those letters.
Illustrated by Anna Brandt (Cologne · Cape Town). Anna paints in gouache at a kitchen table in Cologne and spent two years drawing in Cape Town's Bo-Kaap.
Sibusiso grew up in KaNyamazane outside Nelspruit, where his grandmother told one story a night and never two. He worked for eight years at a publishing house in Hamburg before coming home to write in siSwati.
Illustrated by Thandeka Nkosi (Kabokweni · Amsterdam). Thandeka carves every picture in linoleum. She learned printmaking in Amsterdam and now works from a studio in Kabokweni.
Amani was born in Mombasa, grew up partly in Umlazi with her South African mother's family, and studied astronomy in Berlin. She writes about the sea and the stars in Kiswahili and German.
Illustrated by Jonas Weber (Leipzig · Zanzibar). Jonas draws in pencil and watercolour and has filled twenty sketchbooks on Zanzibar's dhow harbours.
Thabo grew up in Alexandra, Johannesburg, and spent his first winter in Munich at nineteen, touching snow for the first time. He writes about cousins who live in two climates.
Illustrated by Lotte Hansen (Kiel · Durban). Lotte works in coloured pencil and lived in Durban for four years.
Nomvula grew up in Umlazi, Durban, in a house where five languages were spoken over one pot. She trained as a chef in Vienna and writes about food as the first language children share.
Illustrated by Pieter van Wyk (Mitchells Plain · Antwerp). Pieter makes collages from painted and torn paper, a technique he learned in Antwerp.
Johanna spent every childhood summer on a sheep farm near Graaff-Reinet and later taught Afrikaans and Dutch in Utrecht.
Illustrated by Sipho Mahlangu (Mamelodi · Paris). Sipho draws in pen and ink. He grew up in Mamelodi and studied illustration in Paris.
Ayanda grew up in Mdantsane near East London and fished the Wild Coast with her uncles. She lived in Lisbon for five years, beside another ocean, and writes in isiXhosa.
Illustrated by Clara Meier (Bremen · Port St Johns). Clara paints the sea in gouache and has spent three summers in Port St Johns.
Kofi moved from Tembisa to Berlin at ten, knowing no German. A neighbour's tortoise became his first friend. He now teaches at a primary school in Kreuzberg.
Illustrated by Mia Schulz (Berlin · Soweto). Mia draws in wax crayon and oil pastel and ran art workshops in Soweto.
Kagiso grew up in Soshanguve, spent school holidays with family in Maun, Botswana, and worked as a hydrologist in Zurich. He writes in Setswana about water and patience.
Illustrated by Naledi Sithole (Katlehong · Stockholm). Naledi paints in watercolour and studied in Stockholm.
Palesa played marimba in a school band in Sebokeng and spent an exchange year in Leipzig. She writes in Sesotho and German about music as a common language.
Illustrated by Tomas Keller (Dresden · Johannesburg). Tomas makes block prints and has lived in Johannesburg since 2015.
Mmathabo grew up in Seshego outside Polokwane, helping her grandmother repaint the homestead walls each spring. She later worked in Brussels as a translator and writes in Sepedi.
Illustrated by Lerato Mashile (Ga-Rankuwa · Berlin). Lerato paints with earth pigments and studied at an art school in Berlin.