After studying English at the University of Western Australia, Coral Petkovich married a Croatian man and lived for twenty years in the former Yugoslavia from 1966 until 1989, with a period of just over three years back in Australia. In 1989, after returning to Australia, she gained accreditation through NAATI as a para professional interpreter and a professional translator and has been doing both ever since. She has translated poetry, a book called Seven Terrors, and another book of short stories, which has yet to be published, as well as many documents of different kinds. She is also the author of a published book, Ivan, Adriatic to Pacific, and several short stories.