Tania Roxborogh

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Tania Roxborogh

Born 1 September 1965
Christchurch, New Zealand
Occupation Teacher, Author
Spouse Phillip Roxborogh
Children Mackenna and Brianna

Tania Kelly Roxborogh (1 September 1965 – present ) is a New Zealand author who currently lives in Dunedin. She is the author of 20 books, including Third Degree, Twenty Minute Shakespeare, and Fat Like Me. She also teaches English and Social Studies at Columba College.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Tania Roxborogh was born in Christchurch. At the age of 3, her alcoholic father left home and she moved to Te Puke with her mother.[1][2] In 1972, at the age of 7, her mother met another man, who had 4 sons and a housekeeper who also had 4 children. They all moved in together and moved around Northland for the next few years. They finally settled in Titoki, west of Whangarei where Tania and her siblings attended Mangakahia Area School. However, in 1977, the family once again moved. By 1980, Tania had lived in 12 different houses and gone to 7 different schools.

Moving around made Tania's childhood unsettled and unhappy, so during her 5th form year in 1981, she travelled down to North Canterbury to live with her father. Unfortunately, this still did not work out and Tania did not want to go back to her mother, so she contacted Social Welfare who arranged for her to stay in Hawarden in a foster family. In 1985, Tania began studying at Massey University in Palmerston North. Three years later, she went to Auckland Teacher's College and the following year began teaching English.[3]

[edit] Marriage and children

In December of 1989, Tania married Phillip Roxborogh. Her daughter Mackenna was born three years later in 1992 and Brianna, four years after that, in 1996. [1]

[edit] Other

  • In 2002, Tania Roxborogh sat the Bursary English exam after a challenge from her Year 13 class as she hadn't taken it herself before and was taking her students through it.
  • In 2003, she underwent a gastric bypass operation after struggling with a serious weight problem since her teenage years.[4]

[edit] Philosophical and/or political views

Tania Roxborogh is a devout Christian and currently attends Leith Valley Presbyterian Church. Her brother-in-law John Roxborogh is a theologian.

Tania's motto for life is best said in Langston Hughes's poen 'Dreams': "Hold fast to dreams for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly..."[2]

[edit] Bibliography

  • Performing with Purpose (1996)
  • Fifteen Minute Shakespeare (1997)
  • If I Could Tell You... (1997)
  • Three Funny Plays (1997)
  • Twenty Minute Shakespeare (1998)
  • Grit (1998)
  • Runaway (1998)
  • Compulsion (1999)
  • English Basics (1999)
  • Three Spooky Plays (1999)
  • More English Basics (2000)
  • Whispers (2002)
  • Limelight (2002)
  • The Essential Shakespeare Series: The Merchant of Venice (2002)
  • The Ring (2002)
  • Third Degree (2005)
  • Fat Like Me (2005)
  • The Essential Shakespeare Series: Macbeth
  • The Essential Shakespeare Series: The Tempest
  • No,It's Not Okay: How to stop the cycle of bullying (2007)

[edit] References and links

  1. ^ a b Three funny plays by Tania Roxborogh. New House Publishers website.
  2. ^ a b Roxborogh, Tania. What makes a writer, Tania? (MS-Word). Roxborogh website.
  3. ^ New Zealand Writers, Roxborogh, Tania. New Zealand Book Council website.
  4. ^ Fat like me. Penguin Books New Zealand (2004).