Born in Guardavalle (province of Catanzaro, Calabria) in 1959, she moved to Soverato, (a tourist town on the Ionian Coast) at the age of nine, where she lived until she finished her matriculation. She arrived in Australia in 1987 driven by a desire to explore new shores. The rest of her family lives in Calabria, with the exception of two aunts who live in Melbourne and Toronto respectively. The history of migration in her family began at the end of last century, with the migration of her great-grandparents and the subsequent birth of her grandmother in the United States. Her grandmother later returned to Italy where she lived for many years before she migrated to Canada with one of her daughters.
Before settling in Australia, Caterina lived in Rome for 3 years, in Scotland for two years and in Treviso for 5, where she left dear friends .... and her old bike!
As soon as she arrived in Australia, she started her community work at Filef - Adelaide, where she worked until the early 1990's. At Filef, as well as working with Italian migrants, she also did translations and admnistrative work, but after the transfer of the editorial office of Nuovo Paese (a bilingual monthly magazine) from Sydney to Adelaide, she dedicated most of her time to this magazine. She was part of the editorial committee and, amongst other things, proofreader for NP.
During this time, her desire to have children gradually grew and when they were born her community involvement, though still an important part of her life, diminished as family responsibilities grew.
When her children started school, Caterina gradually re-entered the work force, dedicating part of her time to voluntary work. During this time she worked with the Patronato Inca-Cgil (Italian Welfare Office), offering tax assistance to pensioners as part of the Tax Help Program of the Adelaide Taxation Office.
She is currently working as a freelance translator, but she also holds a casual position with Doppio-parallelo, a cross-cultural theatre company, with whom she has had a collaborative relationship spanning over ten years and where she has worked as translator and language consultant, community liaison officer and finance assistant.
The highlights of her career include: her participation as a simultaneous translator for a Conference of the Arkleton Trust of London held in Stornoway, in the Hebrides, North West of Scotland (a stage which marked the beginning of her career), and her collaboration in the preparation and publication of "La quercia grande" a novel by Vincenzo Papandrea, published in Italy in 1996.
Her interests are: travelling, cinema, theatre, reading and keeping abreast of events occuring in Italy and in the rest of the world.

Caterina yearns for a better world in which there are no more wars nor abuse of any kind and where there is true parity among the sexes. She has two children, Clara and Marco, aged 9 and 6 respectively.

August 1999