Jackie Karena was born in Tokoroa and was educated at Thames South School and Thames High School. She worked as a typist for the Thames Coromandel District Council for a number of years and is currently working with Kerepehi Te Kohanga Reo. She is a mother of three girls and writes songs for kohanga and poetry.
Biographical sources
- Phone conversation and email correspondence with Jackie Karena on 17 and 27 July 1998.
Poetry
- "Tangi." Tu Tangata 4 (1982): 37.
- In this poem dedicated to her late uncle, Simon McCaskill, the poet articulates her sense of aloneness at his tangi and her empathy for his grieving loved ones.