Don Pinnock is a former editor of Getaway magazine in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the author of 13 books and has written countless travel articles for magazines and newspapers. He is a director of Southern Write, an association of top travel writers and photographers in Africa.

His books include The Brotherhoods: Street Gangs and State Control, Gangs, Rituals and Rites of Passage, Natural Selections, African Journeys, Loveletters to Africa, Writing Left (a biography of Ruth First) and Blue Ice: Travels in Antarctica and The Woman who Lived in a Tree and Other Perfect Strangers. His first novel, Rainmaker, was a finalist for the 2009 European Union Literary Award.

Don has a PhD in political science, an MA in criminology, a BA in African history and has published a post-doctoral study on gangs, rituals and rites of passage. He has held lectureships in Journalism (Rhodes University) and Criminology (University of Cape Town) and completed his PhD research at London University.

Read our Interview with Don