Dianne D’Alpoim has worked as an artist, a teacher, corporate public affairs officer and as an activist in both anti-nuclear arms campaigns and the women's movement.

Born in Yokohama, her nomadic early life provided a varied education, starting in Beijing with a private tutor.

Later life in Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, Europe and the USA has produced a kaleidoscopic worldview on which she draws for her creative work.

As a writer her work has consisted mainly of interviews and personal diaries. A non-fiction work on her father and grandmother’s lives in pre-revolutionary China currently occupies every available moment.