Marguerite Poland OIS (born 3 April 1950, Johannesburg) is a South African writer and author of eleven children's books.
In 1997 she was awarded her PhD, her doctoral thesis was 'A Descriptive Study of the Sanga-Nguni Cattle of the Zulu People' – from the University of Natal.
Most recently she taught English for a year at St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown, where she was commissioned to write a history of the school to mark the 150th anniversary of its foundation in 2005.
The resulting publication The Boy in You: a Biography of St Andrew's College, Grahamstown 1855–2005[2] was launched in South Africa and London in 2008.
Poland is married to attorney, Martin Oosthuizen, who was also raised in the Eastern Cape and attended St Andrew's College.
Her more recent works, Recessional for Grace and The Abundant Herds: a Celebration of the Nguni Cattle of the Zulu People have been adapted for documentary films.
On 28 April 2016, the Order of Ikhamanga - Silver (OIS) was conferred on Marguerite Poland‚ for "her excellent contribution to the field of indigenous languages, literature and anthropology".