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: co-interviewer and co-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 co-tutoring workshops for Māori writers (for Huia Publishers, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 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 national 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. Poetry workshop for ESOL students, Mana College, Porirua, 2019-2025
- Writing and storytelling workshop, Semarang, Indonesia 2015
The Crescent Moon: The Asian Face of Islam in New Zealand
Writer, the book publication, 2009
Writer, the photographic exhibition, 2009-2010
Speaker, the exhibition, touring New Zealand, 2010. Jakarta, Indonesia, 2013: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2014.
Writer, the exhibition The Crescent Moon: Sharing the Same Moon. George Town Arts Festival, George Town, Penang, Malaysia, 2015
Public presentation
- Speaker, reader, panelist or chairperson at poetry readings, Women’s Book Festivals, New Zealand Oral History conferences, book groups, conferences 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
- ONZM, 2026
Other published work
Fiction:
Short stories broadcast on Radio New Zealand, and published in Takahē. Shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Competition, and for the BNZ Literary Awards (x2)
Poetry:
Poems published in Mental Health News, Other Voices, Kāpiti Poems, Sport, Landfall, Takahē, Presence, New Zealand Books, Swings and Roundabouts 2008, Living in the Red Zone 2016, Best NZ Poems 2016, Manifesto Aotearoa 2017, Poetry NZ Yearbook 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, Voices Reflecting on Covid-19, 2021, also in other anthologies. Winner of Jan Gerritson Prize, 2024.
Writing for children:
Ten chapter books for Learning Media series or as commissioned works for Learning Media clients
Stories and articles in School Journal, Ngā Kōrero, Choices (Learning Media); Ears programme (Radio NZ); several anthologies
Non-fiction:
Having a Baby in New Zealand, Co-author. WMERC (published in five languages) 1985
Whitireia Conversations: He Whakawhitinga: the first ten years of Whitireia Community Polytechnic, co-author. Whitireia Community Polytechnic, 1996
Articles:
“Porirua ESL Summer School”, “Porirua ESL Home Tutor Project”, “Exhibition of Asian Crafts”, “Multicultural Counselling: How new settlers see New Zealanders as counsellors” – all published in New Settlers and Multicultural Education Issues, Department of Education
“Pakeha Exodus” NZ Listener, 30 August 1986
“Respecting the silences: recording the lives of immigrant women” Oral History in New Zealand, v3 1990-91
“Maximising Opportunities Within the System: The Educational Track”, Many Voices 1, November 1991
“Understanding scene and narrative” English in Aotearoa, 50, 2003
“Why inclusiveness counts” The NZ Author, Winter 2017
“Pushing out the margins” in Everything I know about books, Whitireia Publishing 2023
“Editing poetry – is there an imbalance?” NZ Poetry Shelf, March 2025
Playing favourites, NZ Poetry Shelf, 2026
Various articles in other publications
Professional:
Have written a large number of documents for tertiary sector requirements: NZQA documentation, NZPPC documentation, programme reviews, strategic planning documents.
“Work Place Communications” diploma course developed and written for New Zealand Institute of Management 2001.
Editing
Editor of several books, including Abdel’s Favourites from the Marrakech Cafe, by Abdelghani El Adroui, 2013; Journey with my Shadow, poems, by Samson Sahele, 2012; Purple Dandelion, by Farida Sultana and Sheila Nair, 2011, The Curioseum: Collected stories of the Odd & Marvellous, Te Papa Press, 2014; Still lives, by Marilyn Garson, 2019.
