Jackie was born and raised in London in a Hong-Kong-Chinese family, but now calls New Zealand home.

She holds a Jt. Hons. degree in English & American Studies from the University of Nottingham, and an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters. She has been lucky to count among her mentors Julian Bell, Rob Young, Pete Rock, Gretchen Icenogle, Elizabeth Knox, Sue Orr, and Alison Wong.

Jackie spent most of her adult life working as a freelance food writer and pastry chef. At the end of 2016, Jackie, her husband, and their two cats moved to Wellington, where she opened her small business Lashings (permanently closed in 2022) and rediscovered her love of writing.

She now works as a freelance writer and editor. Her work has been published in Newsroom, Headland, The Spinoff, Turbine | Kapohau, Capital magazine, takahē magazine, Kete Books, and the Berkeley Review. She was a co-editor of Turbine | Kapohau 2022, and named as one of six highly commended entries in the prestigious Sargeson Prize 2023.

Jackie is currently working on her debut novel, a coming-of-age family drama, set in Hong Kong in the seventies and eighties. She won an IIML Project Scholarship and a Creative NZ grant for the completion of this manuscript, and is represented by Naomi Eisenbeiss at InkWell Management.

When not writing, you’ll find Jackie eating all the noods and petting every animal she meets.

Photography by Tabitha Arthur Photography.