Sarah Curtis

Sarah Curtis is a patriotic New Zealander. She still revels in former Prime Minister David Lange's comment during the 1984 Oxford Debate that he could almost smell the uranium on the breath of his opponent (one of our nuclear-capable neighbours).

That said, Sarah doesn't like Kiwi winters. Every June she finds her loyalty drifts to the South Pacific islands of Rarotonga and Aitutuaki, where she once spent an amazing holiday that she vowed to repeat.

Sarah is instinctively passionate about the environment and social issues. For instance, while she considers the Cook Islands to be her personal Shangri-La, she worries about the state of other south sea islands where locals battle litter, poor housing, domestic violence, dictatorships, overfishing by foreign vessels and the rising ocean.

During her five years as a newspaper journalist, Sarah found her most passionate work was about similar issues here in New Zealand.

"Isn't it amazing how the words just flow when the subject means something to the writer," she says.

Three years as a court reporter saw her gain an incredible insight into the justice system. She is now firmly in the camp of those people who question whether a jury is really adequately equipped to decide a defendant's guilt or innocence.

Sarah's career has been double-pronged building on her two childhood loves - writing and art.

She taught art at secondary school level for 12 years. While a dedicated and hardworking teacher, she was especially proud of the rapport she shared with her teenage students.

Sarah's academic qualifications were accrued from three of New Zealand's top tertiary institutions. She completed a Diploma in Fine Arts majoring in sculpture (1987 - 1990) at Otago Polytechnic Art School, a Certificate in Journalism with merit (1991) from Aoraki Polytechnic and a Diploma in Post-Graduate Teaching(1992) from Waikato University School of Education.

While career was Sarah's main focus throughout her 20s and 30s, she is now enjoying motherhood. Her first child, a beautiful red-haired daughter, was born last year just a couple of months before Sarah's 39th birthday.

The worries of the world now on the back burner, Sarah is content to stay at home and be the best mum she can to little Emily. She hopes to bring in some income as a freelance writer and is enjoy ing the challenge of feature writing for magazines.