About

I’m a South African writer and communications specialist who writes mainly about climate change, sustainable development and cities.

I currently work as a science communicator for the ASSAR (Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions) project, based at the University of Cape Town.

Formerly, I was the editor at UrbanAfrica.net, a project of the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town and a correspondent for Citiscope.

I have been working as a writer for the past 13 years. My work has been published internationally in publications including Citiscope (U.S.), High Country News (U.S.), New West (U.S.), Climate Central (U.S.), Earthzine (U.S.), GQ, Zigzag, Surfer (U.S.), the Surfer’s Path (U.K.), The Big Issue, earthworks, Inter Press Service, Cityscapes, EnCompass (U.S.), GroundUp (SA) and others.

I am a Fulbright scholar and hold an M.A. in journalism from the University of Colorado Boulder.

I contributed chapters about surfing in El Salvador, Namibia, Angola and Mozambique to Orca Publications’ Surf Travel: The Complete Guide.

I also do film work. In 2015, I scripted the short film ‘Normal,’ a film about mental illness and recovery, produced by Simon Taylor of Periphery, and shot and edited a set of videos for the African Centre for Cities.

I dabble in fiction and have published two short stories and a poem with South African journal New Contrast. 

I am also a photographer. I have exhibited work in the United Kingdom (Reclaim Photography Festival, 2018) and in South Africa (Southern Shores exhibition, 2018).

Please see my portfolio for examples of published work.

-Brendon