Bio

As the first Ambassador for the Older Womens Network in NSW (2018-2023), I grew membership and boosted the organisation’s aprofile, hosting public forums and events around our central concerns of poverty, homelessness, domestic violence and ageing well.

In 2022 I created and curated True Story, a unique yearly two day festival of non-fiction, in partnership with the South Coast Writers Centre and the Illawarra Flame (local newspaper). As Artistic Director, I oversee all programming.

In the federal election in 2022, I worked for Senate candidate Jane Caro as part of her comms team. This included organising online forums and public events, preparing briefing notes and talking points for speeches etc.,

In 2021, I created Life Sentences, a podcast dedicated to the practice of contemporary biography. The podcast now has an archive of more than 50 episodes and a devoted audience.

In my role as Editorial Director of Booktopia (2014-2018) I helped the company achieve market share and boosted sales by more than 20 per cent in an environment that was initially uncertain and/or hostile. My editorial newsletter reached 300,000 readers /subscribers.

I have a broad range of experience in communications and journalism which includes working as Features Editor for Vogue Australia (including commissioning the first guest edited issue by Baz Luhrman) as a Presenter and Producer for ABC TV and Radio, ( presenting a weekly prime time factual show for ABC TV for two and a half years) and for Foxtel; writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, the Guardian, The Griffith Review etc.,

In 2017 my memoir, ONLY: A Singular Memoir was published by Allen and Unwin.

In 2015, I was awarded the Hazel Rowley Fellowship for memoir and biography.

My life writing has appeared in collections including Rebellious Daughters and My Mother, My Father and in publications including The Good Weekend.