Miriam Tlali was born in Doornfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa on November 11, 1933. Her first novel, Muriel at Metropolitan (later reissued as Between Two Worlds), was published in 1975. That novel along with her second one, Amandla, were banned by the South African apartheid regime. Her other works included Mihloti, Footprints in the Quag: Stories and Dialogues from Soweto (also published as Soweto Stories), and the play Crimen Injuria. She co-founded and was a frequent contributor to the anti-apartheid literary journal Staffrider. She received numerous awards during her lifetime including the Presidential Award, the Order of Ikhamanga (Silver) in 2008, and a lifetime achievement award from the South African Literary Awards. She died on February 24, 2017 at the age of 83.

One number each year includes Annual bibliography of Commonwealth literature.