Bio

Born

18 January 1968. Henley-Upon-Thames, UK. Middle child (older brother, younger sister). British mother, Italian father.

Childhood

Bossy. Tomboy-ish. Swotty. A defining moment came age 7 when my family moved to Italy and I discovered, to my horror, that I wasn't fluent in Italian the moment I crossed the border. I took to scribbling poems and stories to make sense of my bewildering new circumstances and soon found myself writing about life more than living it. On a positive note, the language barrier certainly subdued my bossiness!

Education

• European Baccalaureate. After a disastrous year in an Italian primary school, I wrapped up my schooling at the European School in Varese, Italy, taking the easy way out in the English language stream.
• BSc in Biology (2:1), Nottingham University, UK.
• National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in journalism. This qualification came at the end of a two-year journalism trainee programme run by London publishing group Morgan-Grampian.
• MA in creative writing (Distinction), Lancaster University, UK. I actually did the first half of my MA at Birkbeck College, University of London, but switched to Lancaster University's distant learning programme when I relocated to Singapore.

Out and About

Moved to London after university, living and working there on and off for five years, back-packing through Asia and Africa during the "off" year. Next, decamped to Sydney for a year of freelance writing and tremendous fun. Hong Kong followed (just before the territory's handover to China), where an intense mix of hard work and hard play led to burn-out after two years. Ten years back in London followed, and now here I am in Singapore.

Family

Australian husband and two culturally confused children (boy and girl).

Career

Worked as a writer for publications in various countries. Staff jobs included Pulse, the Hong Kong Standard, the Eastern Express, Marie Claire (health editor), More and Getlippy.  As a freelance writer, contributed features to (among others) New Scientist, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, the Daily Mail, The Mirror, South China Morning Post, Eve, She, Grazia, Biba, Marie Claire, Australian Doctor Weekly. Have written a book (The Allergy-Free Home) and am in the process of finishing my first novel as well as a much shorter novel for children aged 9-12. I recently started looking for outlets for my short stories, and so far have been published in The Mechanics Institute Review (short story anthology) and received offers from Silverfish Books and British literary journal, Stand Magazine. I run training workshops in journalism and creative writing for both secondary school students and adults, and I hold the title of Writer in Residence at Singapore's United World College. I also offer a writing mentorship programme.