Ingrid Leonie Wolfaardt was born in East London, (1960) in the Eastern Cape, to a mother who originally hailed from farming stock in the Kalahari and a father, the youngest of six who grew up in the home of Captain Parow, where his mother built roads after the untimely death of her husband. The surname König was changed to Koning during the First World War by her grandfather, after he experienced anti-German sentiments in the Cape.
The author is the third of four children, having two elder brothers and a younger sister. Her childhood was divided between the relaxed beach culture of this port city and the hinterland where her uncle and aunt’s stock farm lay on the outskirts of Stutterheim, a small rural village in the Eastern Cape.
The family moved to the town of Paarl, in the Western Cape during the early seventies which was a major shift for all. Her eldest brother remained behind to attend Rhodes University in Grahamstown. The author matriculated at La Rochelle Girls High school in 1977, attending the University of Stellenbosch, completing her Fine Arts degree under Prof Larry Scully.
At the end of 1981 she married Aldert John Wolfaardt, a fruit farmer from Ceres, where she lived in the Warm Bokkeveld until 2000, getting involved in both the farming operation and the welfare of farm workers.
From 1983 to 1985 she completed her Honours degree in Art History through UNISA. During 1991 she was approached by the national marketing organization for the deciduous fruit industry, Unifruco to head up an inclusive women’s organization, Cape Women’s Forum, which she did until the end of 1999. In 2000 she moved permanently to Paarl where her four daughters were attending school.
The following year she registered as a MA Creative Writing student at UCT, under the guidance of Prof Etienne van Heerden .
She completed her degree, with distinction in 2006. The bulk of Heartfruit’s writing took place in the family’s Karoo
holiday home in Prince Albert.
Presently she serves as a director for the family’s fruit export company.
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