Elleke Boehmer was born of Dutch parents in Durban, South Africa where she was educated and later at Oxford University. She has three published novels – Screens Against the Sky (1990), An Immaculate Figure (1993), Bloodlines (2000) and is working on Mandela: A Very Short Introduction (to be published by Oxford University Press on 18 July to coincide with Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday). She is currently Professor of World Literature in English at the University of Oxford, UK.