Mark Laurent

I have worked as a musician for over 30 years, and this has been my principal occupation since 1996. From 1976-96 I worked for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (I have impaired eyesight myself) as a recording producer for their Talking Book Studios. I am currently self-employed as a performing musician and writer, working mainly in New Zealand, but with occasional stints in Australia and the UK. Over the years I have recorded 14 commercially available CDs of my music, as well as working as session musician or producer on around 20 other projects. I’ve done music for radio and TV commercials, plus soundtracks for film and art installations. I have published 2 books of poetry (PERHAPS…, 1995, and THRoW AWAY THE SToNES, 2004) and my first illustrated children’s story, RUFUS AND THE RAIN is being published this year in Australasia by Scholastic. I write CD reviews for NZ Musician magazine and occasional book reviews for NZ Catholic. Since the 1980s I’ve written feature articles for local, overseas, and online magazines. My poetry (and one or two of my short stories) has been used extensively in various publications. Over the years I’ve written a large amount of promotional material, press releases etc, and I’ve also done a small amount of editorial work for private clients. I currently live on the Coromandel Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand, with my wife Brenda. We have 2 grown-up children, Jos (28) and Louise (26). I love good movies, walking, swimming, watching sunsets, spending time with friends, corresponding via email, photography. My faith in Jesus means I have a keen interest in spiritual aspects of life. More recently I’ve been getting to know more about computers and the possibilities they open up.