Snapshot: NICOL A MART I N

Past: Nicola admits she was probably destined for a career in writing after winning a Sunday News “design a newspaper front page” competition as a seven- year- old, and spending most of her time making endless “books” from stapled pieces of A4 paper. After various summer jobs, including working at Woolworths, driving a forklift in a fizzy drink factory and working in shearing sheds, she eventually did a journalism diploma. For 14 years, she worked for newspapers all over New Zealand and overseas, starting in the Coromandel, then Palmerston North, Hamilton, Auckland, Dublin and London.

Present: After trying to convince herself writing wasn’t for her, completing a communication management degree and working as a communications manager for the past six years, she has come full circle. She is again living in the Coromandel and writing and has just completed a self- published cookbook called World Table NZ, which tells the stories of New Zealand refugees and immigrants through their food. She has three daughters; the oldest two both spend a lot of time making books from A4 paper.

Future: Nicola expects to spend a lot more time writing and telling stories, which she now admits she loves doing. When she’s not chasing her daughters and picking up endless pieces of paper, she’s testing out recipes from all over the world, writing about them, and encouraging her girls to embrace their creativity. Nicola wrote about the magical Lost Spring complex for this issue. See page 102.