Barbara Clara Makhalisa was born in Zimbabwe, and studied at Gweru Teachers' College, majoring in Ndebele and English ("at a time when everything colonial was considered to be more superior").

[8] Her second book, the Ndebele novel Umendo ("Marriage Is A Gamble", 1977, Mambo Press, 1977), is considered a classic.

she coordinated the translation and publishing of the new IBS Shona and Ndebele Bibles, as well as Chichewa New Testament.

[12] In 2015, she received an honorary degree from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo.

Her influence in the church has mentored many young people to write their stories and many have been published in the Good Words/Amazwi Amahle in Zimbabwe.