Robin Malan worked in English teaching and theatre in education all his life (his poetry anthologies Inscapes, New Inscapes and Worldscapes are among his many compilations for school use). He taught in the Department of Drama at Stellenbosch University and tutored in the English Department at the University of Cape Town. He did volunteer work for Triangle Project, the organisation caring for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. In 2001 he was awarded the Molteno Medal for lifetime service to literature by the Cape Tercentenary Foundation, on the Council until his death.