I grew up in rural mid-Canterbury and had one of those wonderful childhoods growing up on a farm in the 1960s. I did the usual travel after university and settled in Wellington where I worked in various careers including law, training, business communication, instructional design. For the last 15 years I’ve enjoyed the challenge and flexibility of being self-employed.

I returned to Christchurch when my mother was in the middle stages of dementia. At that time, my father was looking after my mother at home. My involvement increased as my mother’s dementia progressed, especially after she went into a rest home that was located much closer to me than to my father.

While I was balancing work and visiting my mother as often as possible, I enrolled in the Hagley Writers’ Institute creative writing course. In recent years my poetry has appeared in Takahe, Bravado and The Press. I have been placed in the last two Takahe Cultural Studies Essay Competitions, which is a big thrill for me because I especially enjoy writing creative non-fiction.

I live in a small town near Christchurch, with my husband. Nowadays I work part-time and the rest of the time I write or potter around in the garden.