Jenifer Curnow


Jenifer Mary Curnow was a New Zealand librarian and writer.

Early life

Curnow was the only daughter of Auckland architect George Tole and his wife Janet Tole. She grew up in Auckland and attended Baradene College and the University of Auckland. She trained as a high school teacher and taught at various schools including Baradene College, Tamaki College and Westlake Girls High School.

Writing career

In the 1970s Curnow began studying Māori-language manuscripts. She translated much of the written work of Māori scholar and historian Wiremu Maihi Te Rangikaheke, who had been George Grey's informant in his studies of Māori tradition and legend.

Publications

Personal life

Curnow married poet Allen Curnow in 1965. She was stepmother to his three children.