Anya Cates is a short story writer and novelist. She was born in Germany in 1960 and emigrated to South Africa in 1968.

After graduating from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English, French and German (Hons), Anya attained a post-graduate Higher Diploma in Education and taught languages and literature at various schools in Johannesburg before realising that teaching was not her calling. Instead she opted to go into the travel industry, which has enabled her to collect material and inspiration for her stories from all four corners of the globe ever since.

Anya moved to the United Kingdom in 1987 and now lives in Hertfordshire.