EMMA NEALE is the author of two collections of poetry and three novels. In 2000 she received the Todd/Creative New Zealand New Writers’ Bursary, and she is currently trying to land an ornery fourth novel with the help of a Creative New Zealand new work grant. She works in Dunedin as a freelance editor, as the mother of a nearly-three-year-old, and as the helpmeet of a man born within formative whiff of the southern alps. (Viz.: a mountaineer.)