Each Story City project has a multitude of writers to thank for its adventures.
If you’re interested in being a Story City content creator in the future, please sign up to our content creator newsletter. We will be using this newsletter to let you know of any paid project opportunities and when Story City’s open marketplace Beta is ready to launch!
Aparna Ananthuni: The Golden Deer (Melbourne)
Aparna Ananthuni is a Melbourne-based emerging fiction writer, and a freelance writer with Indian Link newspaper. Her writing interests revolve around South Asian women’s histories, performing arts, mythology and literary cultures. She is also passionate about writing about gender equality and domestic violence. Besides writing, she learns and performs South Indian classical singing, in which she has been trained since the age of four. She aims to bring all her interests together in her first novel, which looks at the hidden history/ies behind the life of the legendary South Indian classical singer M.S. Subbulakshmi. She lives in Melbourne Indian-style with her parents, sister and a full set of cross-cultural, dual-identity baggage.
Tim Baker: The Hokey Pokey (Gold Coast)
Tim Baker is the best-selling author of numerous books on surfing. ‘Occy’ was a national bestseller and chosen by the Australia Council as one of ’50 Books You can’t Put Down’ in 2008. ‘Surfari’ tells the story of his family surfing road trip around Australia in 2011. ‘Century of Surf’, a history of Australian surfing, was published by Random House in 2013. His children’s book ‘The Surfer and the Mermaid’ was adapted for theatre for the Bleach Festival. Tim is a former editor of Tracks and Surfing Life magazines. He has won the Surfing Australia Hall of Fame Culture Award three times. You can find out more about him at his website: http://bytimbaker.tumblr.com/
Alison Bloxham: The Spy Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Lab (Calgary)
Alison Bloxham (she/her) is an actor/playwright/musician/creator based in Mohkinstsis, also known as the City of Calgary. A graduate from the University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts, Alison enjoys all things theatre; whether that be writing it, being in it, or attending it! She is very excited to be expanding the scope of her work with Story City and has enjoyed creating an adventure fun for the whole family. Other recent writing credits include You’re Driving Me Crazy (Regina, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton Fringe 2024), Carol Taylors vs. The World (IGNITE! 2022), Feline Sapiens (IGNITE! 2022), Who TF Did It? (ND Theatre 2022). When she isn’t writing, acting, or creating music, you can find Alison playing volleyball, enjoying some board games with friends, or most likely, at home snuggling her two adorable cats, Fergus and Tofu.
Benjamin Brown: The Book of the Sun (Gold Coast)
Benjamin Brown is a Gold Coast-based writer and sometime poet. He is genre agnostic, enjoying nearly everything in equal measure. He has performed his work at the Melbourne Emerging Writers Festival, and worked at the Ubud Readers & Writers Festival in Bali. He is currently completing the Honours portion of his Creative Writing and Literature Degree at Griffith University. If you’d like to get in touch with Ben, you can email him at benjamin (dot) brown2010 (at) live (dot) com.
Mackenzie Brown: Connection (Edmonton)
Mackenzie Brown (she/her) is a First Nations Cree woman from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation, currently residing in Amiskwaciwaskahikan, Edmonton. She is a performer, drummer, tourism entrepreneur, philanthropist and advocate for at-risk youth in the Edmonton area. Mackenzie and her mom perform as “Warrior Women”. They drum and teach around Alberta for the Northern Alberta Teachers Conference, the annual Jasper Dark Skies Festival, Youth Dream Catchers Conference, Canada Day, Aboriginal Day festivities and more. Along with drumming, Mackenzie is also an avid acrylic artist and traditional First Nations crafts artisan. Her art has been featured in the Pump House Gallery, the Edson Gallery Museum, the Gray Gallery Grant MacEwan, recognized for the Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Award of 2017, featured for the Alberta Business Competition 2017 and sold to people travelling world wide at Jasper Park Lodge. She is the recent recipient of the 2019 Esquao Award for Children’s Future, 2019 Indigenous Woman of the year from the Alberta Assembly of First Nations and Top 30 under 30 From Alberta Corporation for Global Cooperation 2020.
Robert Benz: The Home Suite (Edmonton)
Robert (he/him) contributed an audio story to Secret City (Blarney/Phenomania) for last year’s Found Festival. He usually works on stage, most recently in The Blue Hour at SkirtsAfire and The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius at Theatre Network.
Alyx Bui: Zodiac Guardians (Edmonton)
Alyx (they/them) is a Chinese-Vietnamese filmmaker, activist, and tabletop roleplaying game designer, game master and writer. They use their voice to create divergent narratives from the mainstream and is an aspiring novelist. Their work can be found at the CBC, TELUS Storyhive, HitPoint Press, DMsGuild, and the upcoming Pathfinder Lost Omens: Tian Xia Character and World Guide from Paizo, Inc.
Isobelle Carmody: The Omicron (Brisbane)
Isobelle has written many award winning short stories and books for young people. Scatterlings won Talking Book of the year in 1992 and in 1993 The Gathering was a joint winner of 1993 CBC Book of the Year Award and winner of the 1994 Children’s Literature Peace Prize. Billy Thunder and the Night Gate was shortlisted for the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Childrens Literature in the 2001 NSW Premiers Literary Awards. Greylands was named a White Raven at Bologna Book Fair and the title story of the Green Monkey Dream collection won Best short story in the Aurealis Awards when it was published. Darksong won an Aurealis Award in its year. Alyzon Whitestarr won a Golden Aurealis when it was published. Isobelle has also written many books for younger readers. The Red Wind, the first book in The Kingdom of The Lost series which she also illustrated, won the CBC Book of the Year in 2011 in the Younger Readers’ Category and its sequel, The Cloud Road, was shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards for Best Children’s Book in 2013.
Ben Crisp: The Adelaide Time Travel Caper (Adelaide)
Ben’s story was nominated for the 49th AWGIE Awards in 2016 for the Interactive Media category.
Ben Crisp is a writer and actor whose credits include the science-fiction and interactive series “Stasis” for Triptych Pictures, feature films “Survival Instinct” and “The Pulse” for Gravity Films and Dancing Road Productions, and short films “Don’t Blame Me” and “The Car”.
He has appeared in ABC’s “Anzac Girls”, Foxtel’s “Changed Forever” and SBS’s “Danger 5” and “Heaps Good Hostel”.
Sara CS: Poets of Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan (Edmonton)
Sara CS is Sara Campos-Silvius (she/her) a queer and mixed race Latinx artist in Edmonton, Alberta, in Treaty 6 territory. She is a playwright, screenwriter, and poet, as well as an actor, singer-songwriter, emerging filmmaker, and graduate of MacEwan University’s Arts & Cultural Management Program. Her performances include appearances at the Chinook Series, Dirt Buffet Cabaret, Nextfest, the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival, and many more. She has also danced with the integrated dance group CRIPSiE since 2013.
Tasana Clarke: Sounding (Edmonton)
Tasana Clarke (they/them) is an Edmonton based prairie boy and co-founder of Pepper’d, a Black arts facilitation organization. Born and barely raised in small-town Alberta, Edmonton has become their home.
Tasana’s goal of establishing Edmonton as a hub for creation and community for Black creatives is multi-faceted and ever-evolving. Dedicated to nurturing the Black arts community, their work is fuelled by astrology, Afrofuturism, and Emergent Strategy practices.
Rebecca Dawson: The Agency (Barmera)
Rebecca lived in Barmera for two years and enjoyed exploring the local area. She currently resides in Berri, where she has founded the Berri Writers Group at the library. She started writing when she was five years old and hasn’t stopped since, participating in National Novel Writing Month each November. This is her first official project. She hopes to bring many more stories into the world.
Ori Diskett: (Co-written with Kim Wilkins) 9 Fathom Deep (Brisbane)
Ori is a writer of speculative fiction and creative non-fiction. Ori has a particular interest in non-linear and branching stories, and is focussing on this as their research area as they complete their Master of Arts in Writing Editing and Publishing at UQ. You can find out more about them at https://www.twitch.tv/ori_themself or on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ori_themself
Kevin Douangmany: Family Heirloom (Edmonton)
Kevin Douangmany is an Edmonton-based artist and writer with a passion for creating works centered around Asian culture, history, religion and mythology.
He spent the majority of his life growing up in Surrey, BC before joining the Canadian Army as a young adult and the intense experiences while serving influenced his art and writing. After leaving the army, he held a variety of short-term jobs such as coworking space host, motion capture actor, virtual reality assistant, and security guard.
Nowadays he’s settled into Chinatown as the general manager for Van Loc Vietnamese Subs and works towards the revitalization of Chinatown.
Tom Dullemond: Guardians of The Nexus (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2014, Tom Dullemond stumbled out of university with a double degree in Medieval/Renaissance studies and Software Engineering. One of these degrees got him a job and he has been writing and working in IT ever since. Tom writes primarly short fiction across all genres, including literary fiction and the occasional poem. He co-authored ‘The Machine Who Was Also a Boy’, the first in a series of philosophical fantasy adventures for middle-grade students, and writes a regular flash fiction column for The Helix science magazine. His website is www.tomdullemond.com
Dwennimmen: Sounding (Edmonton)
Edmonton (Treaty 6) born poet and spoken word artist Shima Robinson (she/her) embodies, with every poem, the ancient meaning of her chosen pen name. Dwennimmen is the name of an ancient African Adinkra symbol, which means strength, humility, learning and wisdom. It is no surprise, then, that this veteran of the Alberta poetry community uses a searing intellect and dynamic precision-of-language to create poetry which ushers her readers and listeners toward greater understanding and poignant reflection. For Dwennimmen, poetry has long been a compass, a salve, an anchor and guiding light. She uses the potential and force of poetry to uncover the full range of her cerebral, linguistic and spiritual fortitude. This is why her every poem and performance testifies to an emerging power and wisdom, an authentic, deeply human potency which she hopes to pass on to listeners and poetry-lovers around the world.
Lucas Cabaj Guerra: Downtown/Westend Social Issues Walk (Edmonton)
Lucas is a freelance photographer and videographer based out of Edmonton, where he creates digital content for all people and purposes. He graduated from Victoria School of the Arts in 2019 where he immersed himself in Theatre, Dance and New Media.
Jason Fischer: The Treasure of Light (Adelaide)
Jason Fischer lives near Adelaide, South Australia. He enjoys competition karaoke and loves puns more than life itself. Jason is a winner of the Writers of the Future contest, with short-listings in the Ditmars, Aurealis and Australian Shadows Awards. He is the author of dozens of short stories, with his first collection Everything is a Graveyard available from Ticonderoga Publications. Jason’s YA zombie apocalypse novel Quiver is now available from tamsynwebb.com. For more information on the man and his work see: Jasonfischer.com.au
Michael Hand: Who Are the Firm? (Adelaide – Grange)
Michael has been writing for more than 15 years and is dedicated to the power of story-telling to inspire, entertain and bring a bit of magic into the real world. He is the creator of shrineofinsanity.com and self-published author at Tomely.com, he writes a variety of genres of both fiction and non-fiction, including creative content for web. You can find him online at michaelscotthand.com and on Twitter @Himmathand.
Jade Harmer: Ready or Not – Hide and Seek Alien Style (Adelaide)
Jade lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband and their three children, the resident kangaroos, koalas and echidna. When she should be catching up on sleep she creates children’s stories and experiments with flash fiction. Jade blogs about her creative pursuits at www.jadeharmer.com
Linda Hoang: Instagrammable Tour of Downtown YEG (Edmonton)
Linda Hoang is a Canadian blogger and social media strategist based in Edmonton, Alberta. As a professional blogger, content creator and social media influencer, she primarily writes and photographs, film travel, lifestyle, food, and family topics, and is well know for her Instagrammable Walls posts. She develops social media content and marketing plans, tactics and best practices for businesses, offers customized social media training and workshops, and speaks on social media topics at various conferences. She’s also an online social media instructor for the University of Alberta Faculty of Extension’s Social Media Certificate program. You can find her @lindork on all social platforms or at her website.
Paula Humby: The Home Suite (Edmonton)
Paula Laroche Humby (she/her) is an Edmonton-based multidisciplinary theatre artist. Recently, she appeared in Almost, Maine (The Vanguard Theatre Collective), Skirts on Fire (Teatro la Quindicina) and wrote Élise contre l’exctinction totale, a TYA play that went on tour to schools across Western Canada. Paula has been creating site specific works with her husband Ben Stevens since 2016, when they co-wrote Emily Etterson’s Economical, Eco-Friendly Water Service (For Charity)! for SKAMpede in Victoria, British Columbia. Paula was mid-rehearsals for her directorial debut, Martine à la Plage, at L’Unithéâtre when the pandemic broke out. She has been itching to get back to work ever since, and is super thankful that Found Fest was able to adapt in order to keep making art in unexpected places!
Mark Jackson: The Captain and the Curse (Port Adelaide)
Mark Jackson is a Landscape Architect and Writer with over 8 years’ experience. During this time he has developed a diverse range of skills, working on projects in the UK and Australia, in both the private and public sector. This experience has provided Mark with a broad understanding of the complex requirements associated with open space design and place making.
He is also passionately interested in the impact of digital technology and how this can be embraced to enhance community experience within the public realm. This includes the adaptation of domestic video games and inherent sedentary behaviour, into more active pursuits that leverage off a local context, creating meaningful, engaging, memorable experiences that resonate and output a sense of place. This inside-out approach to programming spaces acknowledges both the benefits of landscape within games and games within the landscape. Find out more at: https://www.facebook.com/publicrealmgaming/
Gary Kemble: Rise of The Roaches (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2014, Gary Kemble’s award-winning short fiction has appeared online and in magazines in Australia and overseas. His debut novel, supernatural thriller Skin Deep (Echo Publishing), is out July 2015. When he’s not writing he’s working for the ABC, as the News division’s social media guy. He currently lives in Scotland and you can follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/garykemble
Trent Jamieson: Deathworks (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2013, Trent Jamieson is a multiple Aurealis Award winner for short fiction, he has taught short story writing at the Qld University of Technology, and Clarion South. Trent’s latest novel Day Boy is available from Text Publishing, and his Death Works Trilogy of novels is available from Orbit books. Roil, and Night’s Engines the two books of the Nightbound Land Duology, are available from Angry Robot. He lives in Brisbane with his wife Diana. His webpage is at www.trentjamieson.com.
Jody Macgregor: A Pirate Captain (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2014, Jody Macgregor read the Zork series of pick-a-path books at a young and impressionable age before moving on to Lone Wolf and that probably explains a lot. Currently a music journalist, he’s designed tabletop roleplaying games, edited street press, blogged for Brisbane Times, and is co-host of Triple Z’s weekly gaming show Zed Games. He believes the Fighting Fantasy novel Daggers of Darkness has the greatest cover art ever published. You can find him at jodymacgregor.tumblr.com
Nick Manning: The Haunted Falls (Brisbane)
Nick is the writer of 3 puzzle trail adventures for the Brisbane City Council Outdoor Reads parks event. Dolphin trainer, fireman and ex-navy seal; none of these words have ever been used to describe Nick Manning. He’s actually a writer, traveller and avid computer gamer – much less sexy, but also much less dangerous (have you ever seen dolphins up close? They’re all ‘eek’ ‘eek’ and cute nose kisses until you turn your back and then bam! -your wallet’s gone and you’re missing a kidney). As a young adult, Nick travelled the world as a tour guide. He’s now a full time writer, slinging words around the interwebs when he’s not planning for that inevitable day when dolphins turn upon humankind – his current strategy involves a truckload of cheap tuna and selling out the human race. It’s a work in progress. You can find him at www.amazon.com/author/nickmanning
Miranda Martini: Heartbreak Speedrun (Calgary)
Miranda Martini is a writer, musician, composer, and performer for theatre, film, television and beyond. She co-wrote music for “John Ware Reimagined,” a musical about the life and impact of Alberta cowboy John Ware. Her face and voice can also be seen and heard in the documentary John Ware Reclaimed. Her nonfiction writing can be found in publications like Alberta Views and The Sprawl, as well as in the anthologies The Black Prairie Archives (Wilfried Laurier University Press) and Other Tongues: Mixed Race Women Speak Out (Inanna Publications). She is currently working on a sci fi musical, a mini puppet play about pigeons, and a YA mystery novel. Miranda would like to thank her partners for letting her monologue at them excitedly about the project. She’s sorry she couldn’t make her dating game more polyamory-inclusive, but programming that many choices would’ve quadrupled the project’s budget and made the producers pretty mad at her. She would also like to thank everyone who’s ever gone on a date with her for the inspiration; it was either a good time or a good story.
Lee McGowan: Outdoor Reads Flora & Fauna Adventures (Brisbane)
Lee is the writer of 3 Flora & Fauna adventures for the Brisbane City Council Outdoor Reads parks event. Lee McGowan believes sharing a story is the best thing you can do for someone else. He also believes the beautiful game, football played with a ball (not an ovoid) and your feet is the best game in the world. His work as a lecturer at QUT has allowed him to write all kinds of stories, and to research football writing. In the last couple of years he’s become increasingly interested in how tech can take a story beyond the page. He’s currently working on short fiction, a short football novel, and short blog posts @ shugmcgowan.wordpress.com. He writes every day, even if its nonsense.
Nerissa McNaughton: The Tontine (Edmonton)
Nerissa McNaughton is the owner of I’m Write, a content writing firm serving a variety of clients from web builders to newspapers, from magazines to SEO analysts. When not writing for work, she writes creative fiction and bakes medieval pastries. Check out her ebook ‘Ceasarea’.
Timiro Mohamed: Poets of Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan (Edmonton)
Timiro Mohamed (she/her) is a spoken word poet, poetry editor for the literary magazine: The Drinking Gourd and Edmonton’s youth poet laureate. Her practice is rooted in responsible storytelling, centers Black Femmes, and celebrates her many identities.
Haley Moorhouse: Boring Old Edmonton (Edmonton)
Hayley (she/they) is a writer, actor, dramaturg and producer based on Treaty 6 Territory in amiskwaciwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton). She writes primarily for the theatre, including the plays Suspension (Edmonton Fringe 2019, Alberta Queer Calendar Project 2020), Bird Signs (Nextfest 2019 & 2020), Beatrice Again and Again (in development) and Tough Guy (in development). Hayley is so grateful to be a part of Story City Edmonton, and they hope you have a wonderful time as you embark on your Story City adventure!
Daliso Mwanza: Sounding (Edmonton)
Daliso Mwanza (he/him) is a local ethnographer and arts organizer. As a co-founder of Pepper’d, Daliso has been involved in the creation of events and projects with a multitude of Black creatives in Edmonton. Looking back to his Zambian heritage, he works towards honoring his ancestors and helping other artists make those same connections.
Currently pursuing his Masters in Visual Ethnography, Daliso’s work and research are fed by his desire to create more opportunities for leisure for Canada’s Black community.
Christina Nguyen: The Home Suite (Edmonton)
Christina (she/her) is so excited to make her debut at Found Fest, and share some beautiful stories from a distance! She would like to say thank you a million times to Common Ground Arts Society, Ben Stevens, and Paula Humby for dreaming big and making this piece happen. Christina is an emerging theatre artist hailing from Edmonton. She is inspired and invigorated by multi-disciplinary theatre, music and art. She is a recent grad of the University of Alberta’s BFA Acting Program. Christina’s recent credits include: Positive (In Arms Theatre/Nextfest), Shakespeare’s Dog, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Studio Theatre), For One Night Only (Razor Babes Productions), The Winter’s Tale/Two Gentlemen of Verona (Freewill Players), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Hot L Baltimore (University of Alberta), But Hark, A Voice (Thou Art Here Theatre), The Shape of A Girl (Haven Theatre Society) and Concord Floral (Citadel Theatre/Young Company).
Eileen O’Hely: Outdoor Reads Historical & Indigenous Adventures (Brisbane)
Eileen is the writer of 2 historical & 1 indigenous adventure for the Brisbane City Council Outdoor Reads parks event. Eileen O’Hely is a reformed astrophysicist who writes for children and young adults. Her debut novel Penny the Pencil won the Children’s Books Ireland Bisto Honour Award, and the series has been published in Ireland, Korea, Turkey and China. Titles in her Kitten Kaboodle series have been shortlisted for the Davitt Award for Best Children’s Crime Novel and Speech Pathology Australia’s Book of the Year for 8-10-year-olds. Eileen enjoys reading to her junior audience and collaborating with them on craft activities based on her novels. You can find Eileen via her website: eileenohely.com or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eileenohelyauthor
Rashmi Patel: Amar Akbar Anthony (Melbourne)
Rashmi divides her time between writing articles for Indian and Australian publications, polishing her collection of short stories, and working as a technical writer in the IT industry. Her articles and stories have appeared on BuzzFeed, Mint, Scroll.in, Femina, and Times of India. She is passionate about women’s issues, culture, humour, technology, art, creativity, and travel. When she is not writing, she can be found sketching along with members of Urban Sketchers, cooking fusion food, and roaming around the city collecting kitschy art. She is forever trying to ‘settle down’ without much success. An eternal urban nomad at heart, she is currently based in Melbourne with her husband and five-year-old daughter. You can find out more about her at: Rashmipatel.wordpress.com
Dimity Powell: The Chapel of UnLove (Gold Coast)
Dimity’s story was nominated for a WA Premier’s Book Award in 2016 for the Interactive Narrative category.
A writer for the Story City Gold Coast project in 2015, Dimity Powell writes for children because she’d love to be one again. To support this fantasy she produces sometimes silly, sometimes sad, always scintillating stories, which she hopes will be read by children who love to curl up with books as much as she did. Her words appear in school magazines, anthologies, on line, and in junior novels and picture books. To Read, Write and Inspire sum up Dimity’s main passions in life, along with sailing on the beam, eating ice cream and writing in her diary – although doing all three at once makes her nauseous. She frequently finds herself neck-deep in Kids’ Lit, which she regularly reviews for Boomerang Books Blog. Her writing ambitions are simply to keep doing it. Dimity lives just around the corner from Bat Man on the Gold Coast but is far too busy to have him over for afternoon tea. Discover more at Dim’s Write Stuff.
Chetna Prakash: Searching Saloni (Melbourne)
Chetna Prakash is a Melbourne-based writer. Having lived in Zambia, India, Denmark, The Netherlands, Germany, UK and now Australia, she confidently lays claim to the term ‘global citizen’. She loves to write both fiction and non-fiction, and her favourite pastime is to have conversations with artworks. You can read her blog at Chatnoir: A Mumbaikar in Melbourne or find her on twitter @Mumbai2Melby.
Tamara Pratt: Strange Daze – A Zombie Apocalypse (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2013, Tamara’s short stories have been published in USA and Australian anthologies and journals, including Queen of Crime Anthology and Tincture Journal. In 2011, Tamara was awarded a residential Fellowship at Varuna Writer’s House where she was mentored by Australian crime author Marele Day. In 2014, she was awarded an Australian Society of Authors’ mentorship for her YA speculative fiction novel. Tamara is currently studying a Master of Arts (Creative Writing). She resides in Brisbane with her husband and three children. You can follow her blog at www.tamarapratt.com or Twitter.
Pepper’d: Sounding (Edmonton)
Pepper’d is a Black arts organization focussed on developing opportunities and resources in Edmonton for Black creatives. Co-founded by Tasana Clarke and Daliso Mwanza, Pepper’d has established itself as an adaptable community collective that strives to provide a wide array of supports. By working with other Edmonton organizations, Pepper’d has led many successful events that have provided platforms for artists from many artistic disciplines. As the organization evolves, they hope to establish permanent roots to continue supporting and drawing attention to the future of Black arts in Edmonton.
Omar Ramadan: Poets of Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan (Edmonton)
Omar (he/him) is a Lebanese Canadian poet, writer, and incoming University of Calgary PhD student based in Edmonton Alberta. Omar’s work is centred on nostalgic memories of home, oppression, and the navigation of living in a colonized space as the son of immigrant parents. He is inspired by the work of local poets and has competed in several spoken word competitions. Omar has an English Master’s from York University, and his work has recently been published in the first issue of Lida Literary Magazine.
Kahli Scott: The Curse of the Bramble Spirit (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2015, Kahli Scott is a writer and creative producer based in Brisbane. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Creative and Professional Writing) from QUT, and mainly writes fiction for young and new adult audiences. In 2013, she was awarded the State Library of QLD Young Writers Award, and in 2014 she worked in conjunction with Tiny Owl Workshop to produce a Christmas-themed flash fiction collection. She is also a co-producer of Yarn Storytelling, a Brisbane-based live storytelling event. She grew up in the coastal suburb of Sandgate and is excited to bring it to life through Street Reads. Her website is: www.kahliscott.com, and Twitter is: @kahliscott
Nathaniel Scott: Coal Call (Edmonton)
Nathan Scott is an Edmonton born artist and writer who grew up in the greenery of its river valley. He studied English at MacEwan University, and has written for a variety of clients and organizations. In his spare time he likes to write gamebooks and put on juggling shows for his son. He is also available as a professional artist, host, and entertainer.
Social media: Beak Dreams on Facebook
Elisabeth Shenher: Power Play (Edmonton)
Elisabeth Shenher is a writer from Edmonton. In 2023, she received her MFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia. Her flash fiction has been longlisted for Room Magazine’s Short Forms contest and won the Australian Writers’ Centre’s Furious Fiction competition. In 2019, she attended the Emerging Writers’ Intensive Workshop at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Recently, she received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to write a novel. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, yoga, and buying more books she swears she’ll read ‘one day’.
Lauren Sherritt: The Hero’s Apprentice (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2014, Lauren Sherritt now resides in Brisbane where she soaks up the sun and writes in as many mediums as she can get her hands on. In 2013 Lauren made her directorial debut presenting her play Sans Love in Anywhere Theatre Festival and followed this by writing and directing One Black Mark in 2014. Lauren is currently completing a playwriting mentorship with the Australian Theatre for Young People and regularly writes for online publications Birdee Magazine and Australian Stage.
Meelee Soorkia: Editor of Melbourne Stories
Meelee Soorkia has been working with words for a decade. She is a story weaver, a word wizard and a books tragic. By day she is Senior Development Editor at Hardie Grant Books in Melbourne; by night she invents fictional worlds and sometimes puts them to paper. She has worked on several bestselling and award-winning titles, including The Undesirables by Mark Isaacs, The Long Goodbye by PJ Parker and Good Muslim Boy by Osamah Sami. In 2016, she published Walking Towards Ourselves: Indian women tell their stories, an anthology of nineteen of India’s finest women writers exploring power, politics and patriarchy on the subcontinent, through mini-memoirs and personal narratives.
Ben Stevens: The Home Suite (Edmonton)
Working as a performer and a playwright, Ben is an active creator of new theatre in Edmonton. His written work includes But Hark, A Voice! (Thou Art Here Theatre), Emily Etterson’s Economical Eco-friendly Water Service (For Chairty!) (SKAMpede), The Van (Found Festival), Brake, Home Video (Heartmeat), Herbert, and If I Had a Horse (Ben, Dave, Steve). With Thou Art Here Theatre, Ben has created various site-specific collections, adaptations, and full-length productions of Shakespeare’s work. Recent acting credits include A Christmas Carol (Citadel Theatre), Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Winter’s Tale (Freewill Shakespeare Festival), and Gordon (Theatre Network).
Saint: Poets of Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan (Edmonton)
Saint (they/them) is a Black, nonbinary, queer Muslim with a fire in their belly. They’ve fostered a growing passion for their community through reading works by bell hooks, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Michelle Alexander and countless others, thanks to years at working at a well known book store. Currently working on a psychology and art history degree and through their art, Saint hopes to reach their community to affect positive change.
Some Sum: Poets of Amiskwaciy-Wâskahikan (Edmonton)
Ryan James Summers aka Some-Sum is an Edmonton born spoken-word poet and freestyle artist. He started writing at the age of sixteen and began to freestyle whilst living on the streets of Edmonton at age seventeen. Throughout his journey he became submersed in hip-hop culture which became the foundational component of his ability to freestyle. He realized that his passion for spoken-word as an art form could be used to express himself. This realization stemmed from an influential peer’s perception of his writing style, delivery on the mic and engagement with listeners.
Inspired by various artists including Saul Williams, Robert Nesta Marley and Michael David Larsen “Eyedea”, he found himself with a calling to combine both spoken-word and hip hop into its own unique and collective art form. His abilities as a wordsmith and eclectic taste in musical culture led him to experiment by combining this art form with diverse instrumentals. Some-Sum has the desire to leave an imprint of his art and authentic self on the world and in doing so empower others to discover their purpose and truest self.
Jason Theodosis: The Escape of Bloggo – Creature of the Maiwar (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane City Council’s Street Reads event in 2015, Jason Theodosis graduated from the Queensland College of Art and Griffith Film School with a Bachelor of Animation (2009) and Diploma of Film (2012). It was there he discovered his passion for screenwriting. Jason and his two comrades were awarded with the Queensland New Filmmakers Award for Best Animated Short for their graduate film in 2009. Passionate to tell stories through images or words, he began his journey writing fiction. He is determined to make his mark on the map beginning with Dutton Park in Street Reads 2015.
Meg Vann: The Great ‘Gabba Mystery (Brisbane)
A writer for Brisbane Street Reads event in 2015, Meg Vann is an emerging crime and thriller writer with an interest in exploring lesser heard voices. Meg founded the Queensland chapter of Sisters in Crime and regularly presents workshops on writing, editing and publishing, with an emphasis on digital innovation. Meg is the former CEO of Queensland Writers Centre, and currently works with Brisbane Writers Festival and The University of Queensland. Her writing has attracted development awards, and is published in Australian literary journals. You can find her at: Blog- https://mamaguilt.wordpress.com ; Twitter- @meg_vann or; Facebook- Meg Vann Author https://www.facebook.com/megvannwriter
Lindsey Walker: …and The City Fell Silent (Edmonton)
Born and raised on Treaty 1 territory (Winnipeg), and currently residing in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton), Lindsey Walker (she/her) is an award-winning singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and theatre performer. Lindsey’s music has been described as “achingly sincere”, and “cinematic”. As a theatre creator, Lindsey wrote the score and lyrics for ren & the wake, an original semi-immersive musical that she created with Catch the Keys Productions, as well as creating the music and lyrics for the one-man political musical Amor de Cosmos with Richard Kemick. She is currently working on her latest EP, Something Real, which will be out Fall 2024.
Cassandra Weir: Seeing Beyond (Edmonton)
Cassandra is an author with way too many half-finished manuscripts. She is currently working on several fantasy novels. Occasionally she ventures out into different styles and genres, including short stories and interactive fiction. When not writing, she spends a little too much time reading, playing video games, and trying to learn how to garden. She currently lives with her partner and two cats in Edmonton, Alberta. You can find out more about her and follow along on her adventures at her website.
Kevin Weir: Chase (Calgary)
Kevin Weir began his creative work in film before becoming an author of page, stage, and screens big and small. A fan of fantastical worlds, Kevin found a way to channel his chaotic energies into wild yarns, taking readers on unforgettable journeys. His debut novel, Endless Hunger, was praised as a “riveting, genre-blending adventure that will keep you guessing on every page.” He followed up with the fantasy adventure series All Gods Fall, the dark Ink for Blood, the wild space adventure Rogue, and many more on the way. Between projects, Kevin enjoys playing out stories with friends in real-time through TTRPGs and running Blood on the Clocktower for friends and foes alike.
Kim Wilkins: (Co-written with Joseph Diskett) 9 Fathom Deep (Brisbane)
Kim Wilkins was born in London, and grew up at the seaside north of Brisbane, Australia. She has degrees in literature and creative writing, and teaches at the University of Queensland and in the community. Her first novel, The Infernal, a supernatural thriller was published in 1997. Since then, she has published across many genres and for many different age groups. Her latest books, contemporary epic women’s fiction, are published under the pseudonym Kimberley Freeman. Kim has won many awards and is published all over the world. She lives in Brisbane with a bunch of lovable people and pets. You can find out more about her at her website: http://fantasticthoughts.wordpress.com
Phillip Henry Wu: The Not-So-Secret Door (Calgary)
Phillip Henry Wu is a writer and filmmaker based out of Moh’kinsstis, Calgary, AB. A first-generation immigrant, Phillip aims to write introspective character stories that connect with wallflowers. A graduate of the University of Lethbridge, Phillip has worked on projects such as Fraggle Rock: Back to The Rock Season 2. They are currently participating in the Reelworld Emerging 20 Program, selected to develop their feature script My Own Funeral. When their face isn’t buried in a laptop chugging flat whites at a local coffee shop, you’ll find Phillip buried in a book, or hiding in the movie theatre. So, a lot of denning.
Pauline Yates: Rumours Uncut (Moorooka, Brisbane)
Pauline Yates is the writer for the new Story City thriller in the Brisbane suburb of Salisbury. Since committing to developing a writing career, she has short stories scattered between international publications including The Casket of Fictional Delights, Metaphorosis and Abyss and Apex, and is a featured author in the science fiction 5×5 Reading Anthology published by Metaphorosis Books in 2018. She despises sleep, avoids it where possible, and wastes time listening to imaginary people pitch reasons why they should be included in a scene. In real life, she lives in Queensland.