Our members
Ballarat Writers’ members are published and unpublished, aspiring, emerging and established, young and old – we are here to support all writers. Read on to meet some of our members. If you’re a member and you’d like to be on the site, let us know by leaving a message on the contact page.
Bronwyn at myspace
Bronwyn Blaiklock, current Chair of Ballarat Writers, is a musician and poet. She plays the piano and accordian, and has performed across Australia, both solo and in chamber recitals and orchestras. Her poems have been published in magazines such as pendulum, Page Seventeen, fourW, Friendly Street Poetry Reader, and dB Magazine, and she has won several poetry awards.
www.jillblee.com
Jill Blee has Masters Degrees in both History and Writing and a PhD in History from the University of Ballarat. She has written three novels, The Pines Hold Their Secrets, Brigid and The Liberator’s Birthday. Her history titles include a history of Catholic education in Ballarat and four volumes of the Little Red Book Series. Jill has also written a children’s novel set on the First Fleet and is currently working on a story set in Westminster Abbey. Jill is a former Chair of Ballarat Writers.
Sarah-Kate is travelling on a pathway that was perhaps always under her feet. but more recently, like an insect emerging from the dark chrysalis of diversity, she now acknowledges not only her past experiences but those that inform her future. Her writing encompasses creative and nonfiction genres, but at this stage no one has yet been able to pin her down for a serious answer. According to her family the most remarkable thing about their mother is that for 30 years she has served nothing but left overs. The original meal has never been found. According to Sarah-Kate, in fact, that is the secret.
Frank Carrucan is well known as a former teacher/lecturer in Ballarat and has a PhD in Education from Deakin University. He works part time at the University of Ballarat as a tutor. He had a previous life in amateur theatre in Ballarat in Lyric Theatre, Light Opera and Ballarat National Theatre. He still sings in a choir. He is interested in literature and different writing genres.
Marian Chivers is currently studying for Honours in Literature after completing a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Editing. Marian completed her Diploma of Arts in PW&E at South West TAFE. She also works as a librarian and her interest in literature, both child and adult, remains strong while myths, fairytales and legends are still a source of fascination and writing material. Working with books from inception to reading and reflecting is an ongoing passion.
Nadine Cranenburgh achieved early literary success with a gripping adventure tale that took out runner up in the Penelope Pea competition when she was four. Since then, she has studied engineering; joined the Navy; escaped to try different careers from Gippsland to Nepal; and recently given birth to her first child – which has given her plenty of material but little time to write it! As Publicity Officer, Nadine looks forward to putting her fundraising and promotion experience to use in raising the profile of Ballarat Writers and building relationships with supporters.
Paul Donohoe tried his hand at a host of occupations pleasant and unpleasant before taking the plunge into writing. Paul’s travel stories have appeared in a Canadian newspaper, and his poetry and short prose have appeared in anthologies and magazines. Writing gigs have included three years as Editor and Writer for Resilience, a magazine for the adult children of Vietnam Veterans, and a stint as Staff Writer for Tasmania 40� South, a journal of all things Tasmanian.
Ross Gillett’s poems have appeared in The Age and The Australian and in magazines including Quadrant, Overland, Poetry Monash and Blue Dog. They have featured three times in Radio National’s Poetica program and have been included in Black Inc’s The Best Australian Poems 2004, 2005 and 2006. His book The Sea Factory was one of the Five Islands Press New Poets 2006 series.
His awards for poetry include the Broadway Poetry Prize, the FAW John Shaw Neilson Award (twice), the Melbourne Poet’s Union National Poetry Prize, the Reason-Brisbane Poetry Prize, the Ulitarra Prize, the City of Greater Dandenong National Poetry Prize and the Woorilla Poetry Prize.
Prize winning poet, E A Gleeson, has been writing and performing poetry since the mid 1990s. Her poetry evolves from preoccupations as diverse as the quirky untold versions of historical events to her farming childhood, and the universal concerns of humour, love and death. Her poetry has been published in literary journals and anthologies throughout Australia, and in Ireland and the USA. Her poetry collection, In Between the Dancing, was released by Interactive Press in 2008.
Frank Golding
My latest book is An Orphan’s Escape (Lothian, Melbourne, 2005), a total contrast to my usual work – plain English texts about the laws for ordinary people, educational texts and reports. How satisfying it is to put the ‘I’ back into my writing.
David King’s website
David King migrated here from the UK in 2007. His work has been broadcast on BBC Radio and widely published in the UK and USA. He has won a number of prizes, including World Wide Writers Award for Best Short Story of the Year. For many years, he co-edited BuzzWords, a UK magazine specialising in literary fiction.
Between 1980 and 2003 Myra King wrote articles for several Australian magazines and had a fortnightly column in a Florida newspaper. In 2008 she was awarded first prize in the UK-based Global Short Story Competition, shortlisted (2009 and 2010) commended for the Rolf Boldrewood and Scarlet Stiletto Literary Awards and Highly Commended in the UK JBWB Short Story Awards (Summer 2009). Her stories, articles and poetry have been published in print and online in the UK, Australia, USA and New Zealand. She has a short story collection forthcoming with Ginninderra Press.
Phil McDonald
Kate’s myspace page
Having recently completed a Bachelor of Arts (Literature and Film) and a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing, Kate McMahon is the sub editor of Trouble, a free monthly arts magazine circulating Victoria. She has previously worked as a proofreader, arts index editor and memoir editor / ghostwriter as well as versioning a series of maths textbooks. Kate has also just embarked on a side-career as a solo singer / songwriter / pianist.
Alice Mills is associate professor of literature and children’s literature at the University of Ballarat. She has edited a number of anthologies of literature for children, the most recent being The Children’s Treasure Chest in 2004. She has also edited two scholarly books of essays and was chief consultant for Mythology: Myths, Legends and Fantasies.
www.robbineal.com
Robbi Neal’s first book, Sunday Best was released by HarperCollins and received reviews calling it ‘A gripping read’ and ‘One of the best books of the year’. She won a Varuna HarperCollins manuscript award, received two Australia Council grants and was a Ledig Fellow. She was published most recently by Allen and Unwin in the anthology Some Girls Do. She was the director of the inaugural Victorian Regional Writers’ Conference and currently works as a Regional Arts Developer. She is working on her third manuscript.
www.paddyoreilly.com.au
Paddy O’Reilly is the author of a novel, The Factory, a collection of short stories, The End of the World (UQP) and a novella, ‘Deep Water’ in Love and Desire (The Five Mile Press). Her work has been published widely in anthologies and magazines nationally and internationally. She has won a number of awards for her writing and has been writer-in-residence in Australia, Japan and the USA.
My name is Diana-Lee Saville. I live outside a small country town on a bush block with my partner Harry, four horses, four dogs, and a small collection of cars! I am currently working on a YA novel I started while studying PWE at Berwick Chisholm. I have had articles published in The Journal, Auto Action, Motoreyes and Australian Drag Racing Magazine. My book, Moving to the Country, a comical look at tree change, was released in 2008. I have a new range of cards, t-shirts and wall art for sale. Please visit my site. I also have a small selection on Facebook.
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