Rebecca Reader completed a BA in History at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, and then a PhD in Medieval History at Durham University, UK. She spent five years as a Research Fellow at the universities of Newcastle Upon Tyne and St Andrews, editing medieval chronicles and parliament rolls. After emigrating to New Zealand, she gained a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, Wellington, for a manuscript of poems about Mexico. She has published academic articles, short stories and poems. In her spare time, she reads Latin American literature and teaches Middle Eastern dance.