Rae Stoltenkamp was born in South Africa. She came to England in 1987 to visit family and liked the wet weather so much she stayed. A few years later she went on a writing holiday in Greece where she had an epiphany as she realised she should be writing on a more full time basis. After studying writing at City Lit with the poet Caroline Natzler Rae published her first novel. She has branched out and now writes poetry too.