Allan Kolski Horwitz grew up in Cape Town. Between 1974 and 1985 he lived in the Middle East, Europe and North America, returning to live in Johannesburg in 1986. Since then he has worked in the trade union and social housing movements. He continues to be a writer in various genres as well as being an educator and activist. He is a member of the Botsotso Jesters poetry performance group and of the Botsotso Publishing editorial board.

His books of poetry are entitled Saving Water and There are Two Birds at My Window; in addition he has been published widely in various anthologies such as We Jive like This, Dirty Washing and Essential Things. His short fiction is contained in three collections: Un/common Ground, Out of the Wreckage and Meditations of a Non-White White. He has also written a children’s parable entitled Blue Wings and five plays, The Pump Room, Comrade Babble, Boykie and Girlie, Jerico and Book Marks.