Writing Schimke worked at some of South Africa's largest newspapers including
The Argus,
The Star and
The Cape Times, as a political reporter, before going freelance in 2000. She returned to The Cape Times for five years as the freelance books page editor from 2010 to 2015. Schimke has contributed to a broad range of newspapers and magazines including
Mail & Guardian,
Daily Maverick.,
The Sunday Times,
Marie Claire,
Visi,
Elle,
Financial Mail,
Business Day, African Decisions,
The Argus, The Star, The Cape Times,
Rapport, Fair Lady, Real Simple, High Life and Psychologies. She was a humour columnist for
Femina magazine, as well as for Parent24 In 2006, Schimke co-authored the bestselling,
Fabulously 40 and beyond: coming into your power and embracing change, with
Margie Orford and her latest book,
The Karen Book of Rules (NB Publishers) with comedy writer Karen Jeynes, was released in September 2020.
Poetry Schimke's debut poetry collection,
Bare & Breaking (
Modjaji Books), was published in 2012. The collection won the
Ingrid Jonker Prize in 2014. Her second volume,
Navigate (
Modjaji Books), was published in 2017. She has performed her own poetry at the Woordfees,
Badilisha Poetry X-Change, the
Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefee and poetry-on-the-road in
Bremen, Germany, in various podcasts and in radio interviews. Her work has been published in
New Coin,
New Contrast,
Stanzas and
Carapace and has been featured in
Paris Lit Up magazine,
Atlanta Review,
Mslexia, as well as a collection of poetry from South Africa translated into German, called
Ankunft eines weiteren Tages, published by Afrika Wunderhorn.
Translations In 2019, Schimke, together with Leon de Kock, won the 2019
Sol Plaatje Translation Award for Flame in the Snow, the English translation of Vlam in die Sneeu, a collection of love letters written in the 1960s between novelist
André Brink and poet
Ingrid Jonker. She regularly translates the work of the well-known Afrikaans thriller writer Irma Venter.
Editor Schimke edited
Open (
Oshun, Struik, 2008) a collection of women's erotic writing by some of South Africa's top female writers. She has edited the work of well-known South African authors like Martin Steyn, Chanette Paul, Dov Fedler and Bronwyn Davids
Writing coach Schimke is a writing coach, developmental editor, course designer and mentor. == Awards and honours ==