Jan Kemp was born in Hamilton in 1949 and has an MA (Hons) in English, a Diploma of Teaching and an MNZM. A fourth-generation New Zealander, she lived and worked overseas for many years before settling in Germany. Kemp established the Aotearoa New Zealand Poetry Sound Archive, and co-edited, with Jack Ross, a series of New Zealand poets in performance. She is now writing new poems for her tenth collection the dancing heart. Together with a team of singers and readers, she has also produced a video Dante Down Under for Dante’s 700th death year filmed in the Johanniskirche Kronberg, where she sings in the choir.