Cornelia Smith Fick has a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of the Western Cape. Her debut collection of short stories Eye of a Needle, was published in 2017. A retired nurse, she worked as editor of a primary health care magazine and as writer for Takalani Sesame (radio and TV). Her poems and stories are in local and international magazines and anthologies such as New Contrast; Kalahari Review; African Writers magazine; Experimental Writing: Volume 1, Africa VS Latin America; Soho Square V, Bloomsbury; Spelk and Atlanta Review.