Mark Pool

Mark was born and raised in Johannesburg. He holds degrees in business and law from the University of the Witwatersrand. While at law school the creative side in him militated, sending him to drama school where he focused on acting and writing. After graduating, Mark spent a few years writing for television and screen, and creating creative content for corporate clients.

In 2003, after a stint in London, he returned to Johannesburg to take a job with AngloGold, South Africa’s largest gold mining company, where he spent most of his time in marketing. Following an acquisition, he led the rebranding and re-launching the company around the world. Thereafter, he moved into the field of gold marketing in the role of creative director of a gold couture initiative that sought to advance design trends in key gold-consuming countries. In his nine years at the company he worked closely with locals in 14 countries on 5 continents.

But the writer in Mark was starving. He wrote his first novel, Dining at the Table of Ludicrous Good Fortune, on planes and in hotel rooms while traveling for work. In 2012 he resigned to pursue his dream of writing full time. Along with his wife Monica he moved to London. After completing additional drafts of the first book, he moved on to a more ambitious novel – Our Stone, which consumed him for five years. While completing that book, he generated a number of television concepts with his writing partner John Harris Dunning. Their projects cover a wide range of genres, from drama and comedy to animation. Mark recently wrote and starred in a short film, Out of Love.