In this day and age, there is no escape from the painful task of self-promotion, so here’s an outline of what I’ve done so far and I hope it gives you an idea about the scope of my interests, experience and skills in the field of professional and creative writing.
My great passion is poetry. My verse novel, called The Tangled Web, was published in 1989 by Openbook Publishers under the pen-name of ‘Therese’. I have since had many poems published in both literary anthologies, journals, and popular magazines, including Lockdown Poetry, Poetrix, SideWAlk, Spindrift, Hobo, Tamba, Reflecting on Melbourne and Offset. In 2022, I self-published another verse novel, called Unforgiven (see below).
Awards for my poetry include the Free Xpression Poetry Prize 2011, Wangaratta Chronicle Poetry Awards, the Don Kneebone Mountain Heritage Encouragement Award, as well as most popular poem at readings at the Brandon Bar, Carlton. In 2020, I came third in the Victorian Slam Poetry Championship. In 2021, I was awarded a commendation for the Melbourne Poets’ Union Prize and the Goldsmith Festival Poetry Competition (UK). In 2022 I was longlisted for the Liquid Amber ‘Encounter’ competition and two poems accepted for publication in the upcoming edition of competition entries.
I have performed my poetry at venues ranging from Bailey’s Winery in Glenrowan to the poetry platforms at Tig Filí (The Poet’s House), in Cork, Ireland, where I also taught a community course in creative writing. I was commissioned to develop poetry for the Reconstruction Arts Project, Benalla, and the Millenium Project in Wangaratta, and was poet-in-residence for a youth arts project in Wangaratta. My song lyrics have been performed at the Nariel Creek and Uranquinty folk festivals.
But I don’t believe in limiting myself to one genre. My first non-fiction book, Sunwyse – celebrating the sacred Wheel of the Year in Australia, was published by Hihorse in 2003 and continues to sell. I’ve had feature articles published in various magazines and newspapers including Mythlore; Witchcraft; Australian Catholics; Outback and The Age newspaper. In 2011, I won the second prize in the Free Xpression essay competition. I’ve done the PR writing for diverse events ranging from performances hosted by the Arts Council of Wangaratta to Inipi (sweatlodge) weekends conducted in the King Valley, and I wrote ads for Serendipity, an introduction agency in Albury. Further back, I was commissioned by the Sandhurst Catholic diocese to research and write a report on homeless youth in NE Victoria, called The Prophet’s Voice, and my welfare work also included research into homelessness in North East and Upper Murray Regions for the Burdekin Report.
