Employment
- Founder/coordinator, tutor, Creative Writing Programme, Whitireia Polytechnic 1993–2019
- Writer, Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of New Zealand, 2003–2014
- Community Education coordinator, ESOL tutor, Whitireia Polytechnic 1988–1992
- ESOL teacher (part-time), Aotea College, 1985–1988
- ESOL founder/coordinator, ESOL tutor, Porirua Language Project, 1980–1987
- Tutor, Christchurch Polytechnic, 1976–1979
- Teacher, George McDougall Senior High School, Alberta, 1971–1973
- Tutor, Mt Royal Junior College (tertiary), Calgary, Alberta 1970–1971
- Library Assistant, Massey University, 1969
Participation in Oral History Projects
- Borany’s Story, I have in my arms both ways, Whitireia Conversations, The Crescent Moon, Migrant Journeys ( all based on oral history projects): interviewer and editor
- New Zealand Netherlands Foundation archive project, 1992‒93: interviewer
- Ko Ngā Kōrero O Ētahi: Tangata A Toarangatira. Whitireia – Ngāti Toarangatira Oral History Project, 1996: interviewer and compiler
- Ihakara (Ken) Arthur. Oral history completed as a gift from Whitireia Polytechnic to Ihakara Arthur, 1999:co-interviewer and editor
Workshops
- Tutor for short writing workshops, including workshops for Māori writers writing in English (for Huia Publishers, 1999, 2000, 2002); co-tutor for workshops for Māori writers writing in Māori (for Huia Publishers 2001, 2003); Dame Fiona Kidman Writing School Autumn Workshops 2002; NZ Poetry Society 2002: Creative New Zealand workshops for Pacific Islands writers, Christchurch and Wellington, 2003; workshops for Pacific writers, 2007, 2009, 2010
- Tutor, creative writing, Vanuatu, for Presbyterian women’s conference, 2003
- Writer-in-residence, Queen Margaret College, August 2003
- Workshops for primary and high schools in the Wellington, and particularly in the Porirua, area
- Writing workshop, Semarang, Indonesia 2015
Public presentation
- Speaker, reader, panelist or chairperson at poetry readings, Women’s Book Festivals, New Zealand Oral History conferences, book groups, conference of the NZ Association for the Teaching of English, Auckland Writers Festival, Writers and Readers Week at the NZ International Festival of the Arts
External assessor
- For Creative New Zealand funding applications, 2000 and 2002
Education
- Victoria University of Wellington, MA (First Class Hons) Senior Scholarship in English
- University of Calgary, Alberta, BEd (Distinction)
Awards
- Winston Churchill Fellowship to Canada, England, Thailand, 1990 (To study access to adult education for ethnic minorities)
- Readers Digest/NZSA/Stout Centre Fellowship, 1995
