Karlien de Villiers was born in Cape Town in 1975. After earning a degree in graphic design at the University of Stellenbosch, she published her first short stories in the magazine BitterComix, edited by her former teacher Anton Kannemeyer, aka Joe Dog. Meine Mutter war eine Frau schöne (My Mother Was a Beautiful Woman), her first graphic novel, was published  by Arrache Cœur in 2006 and appeared in Spain in 2007 and France and Italy in 2008. Karlien de Villiers now lives in the Cape, where she teaches at the University of Stellenboch and works on her next graphic novel.