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 Mlungisi Zondi 

South African writer Mlungisi Zondi’s narrative style pulses with phantasmagoric insight into the mundane aspects of life, his pen slipping into dark imaginings when you least expect it. 

A former journalist, his themes are shaped by cordoned-off crime scenes and the gritty realities of the inner city. His debut novel, The Ghosts of Van Der Merwe Street, is a noir tale of betrayal, addiction, and haunted memory. 

He is working on his second novel, a prison escape thriller inspired by the real-life exploits of Stander gang member and master key forger, Allan Heyl. The story is narrated by a likeable rogue Heyl helped escape. 

In his personal life, Zondi marvels at his 10-year-old daughter’s milestones, though he often escapes to the golf course when her preteen drama gets too much to handle. In quieter moments, he enjoys rereading the classics of the Romantic Movement.