Today on the podcast I’m speaking with Michelle Edwards.

Michelle is a writer and the editor-in-chief of the PR and Content Marketing team at Showmax.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2005. After that she began her journeys around the world, living in Taiwan, the UK, South Africa and Zambia.

Writing has always been a part of Michelle’s life and career. She has worked at an indie bookseller, authored a textbook on Human and Social development, worked in the media industry as a sub-editor, and gone freelance.

She has taken short story writing courses through the London school of Journalism, and two masterclasses in creative writing with Claire Strombeck and Mike Nicol.

These courses have certainly borne fruit. In 2021, Michelle published her first novel Go Away Birds, which was long-listed for the Dinaane Debut Fiction award in 2018. When she's not working in marketing or writing her second novel (very, very slowly), Michelle spends her time boating with her children, trying to train her boisterous puppy, reading feminist romantic fiction and doing New York Times crossword puzzles.

Michelle’s essay in Living While Feminist is called the Litany, which is a memoir piece detailing moments in time of crossing paths with the patriarchy and the way it can strip you of your voice and at times your sense of self. Today I’m also going to be talking with Michelle about her first novel, Go Away Birds.