Emma du Toit has been writing poetry for the last 30 years. She has a coven of cats, a chronic vitamin D deficiency and the usual number of insecurities for a 21st-century woman who honestly can’t work out whether she’s a Millennial or, in fact, Gen X. Conversation starters she dreads include: Where are you from? Why are you late? And tell me about the novel you’re writing.

Belonging, identity, and masking are recurring themes in her work as she explores the relationships between people, places, and moments in time. Drawing on her experiences of growing up in a shifting landscape of countries and cultures, her poetry examines the process of striving to belong after decades of having to fit in.

As a neurodivergent writer, poetry is where she can lift the edges of her mask and take a few deep breaths between performances.

She has had careers in marketing, teaching and professional training and is a passionate advocate for mental health and inclusion. Emma’s work has been published in Cambridge Poetry Magazine (Issue 1, December 2024) and two anthologies published by Sidekick Books: Future Perfect Tense: An Anthology of New Writing from ARU’s Creative Writing MA (2023) and Ten Poets Prowl the Seas in Search of Plunder (2025). An original member of the Park Writers, she belongs to a community of Cambridgeshire word-dabblers that meets in the country park café to share tea, dreams, drafts, and slices of cake.