MISCHA MERZ is a journalist and author of fiction and creative non-fiction. She began training as an amateur boxer in 1995 and is the 2001 Australian Amateur Boxing League women's welterweight champion. Her book Bruising, about her experiences as a boxer, was published to critical acclaim by Picador in 2000 and was shortlisted for the Dobbie Award. Merz's short fiction has appeared in Meanjin, Island, Overland and the Cardigan Press Anthologies Normal Service Will Resume and Allnighter. Her journalism has appeared in numerous publications, including The Age, The Sunday Age and the Herald Sun.