The National Studio

Jaz Allen is a writer, actor, and artist that enjoys the finer things, like daydreaming made up situations instead of asserting themself into the material affliction of shared reality, and cleaning out their childhood bookshelves and finding a scratch and sniff in a old picture book that still scratches and secretes sniffs and thinking wow that remind me of a different time, oh life, oh life, ohhhh……………………… Life. They current live alone in a studio apartment that has taken on the quality of a creepy storage unit containing all their mental breakdowns and lip synchs to Charlie xcx. They have worked at Sydney Fringe Festival, PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, and more. Jaz is loveable and warm, sometimes sticky when exposed to an open flame. They have worked as a producer of arts and culture at FBI Radio, been nominated for a CBAA award as a documentary editor and you can hear them every Wednesday at 4:30pm on FBI radios culture guide.

Twenty-year-old Emmett Aster is an emerging multidisciplinary storyteller with an inability to commit to just one art form. Emmett burst onto the WA arts scene at fourteen as a musician and spoken word poet, where they were set apart by their honest and vulnerable writing style. Now, as the founder and director of ‘perhaps, a theatre company.’, Emmett has found his niche: sharing real, human stories through multi-modal performances that blur the lines of theatre.

Bella Battersby is queer non-binary award-winning writer who has just finished their MFA in Writing for Performance at NIDA. In 2020 they won the Darebin Mayor’s Writing Award for their prose piece titled ‘Bird’ and the following year they finished in the top 2% of RMIT, making it onto the ‘Vice Chancellors List for Academic Excellence’. They recently finished up as a digital editor for the literary publication Voiceworks and are currently working on a web-series titled Roaches, which is like Friends expect it’s actually funny, queer and Joey is a Russian sea-urchin. You can find them on twitter @mxbellabatman.

Ella sincerely hopes that as a writer and a person this bio will quickly become a misrepresentation. That she will learn and write and love so much between now and when you read this that she’d just have to give it another shot. For now, she is grateful, in awe and slightly terrified – but that is how all good things, friends and ideas have found her in the past. People are art and art is people. It’s one of the big reasons that anything matters. This all does matter, so very much.

Tyler Dias (he/him) is a Sydney-based writer/performer who creates relatable, flawed characters in stories that are rooted in his lived experience, yet feel universal. Passionate about creating comedy with heart, he is exploring the intersection between different forms of live comedy with theatre. Tyler directed the Screen Australia funded TikTok series Coach Dayum!, and frequently performs in live improvised comedy shows, including at Improv Theatre Sydney, Sydney Fringe Comedy, and Meraki Arts Bar with various teams. His team, Friends No Benefits, recently placed as overall runners-up in the Improv Comedy Cagefight grand final during Sydney Comedy Festival 2023.

Taylor Fernandez is an emerging creative based on Kaurna land. She is studying her Honours in English at the University of Adelaide. Taylor sits on the board of the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild and is the elected President of the Student Society (TGSS) for 2023. With TGSS, she has performed in multiple productions, and directed Robert Egan’s stage adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Breakfast of Champions’. She was awarded the 2022 Flinders University Young Playwrights’ Award by State Theatre Company South Australia, for her play ‘Artifice Factory’.

Blake Hohenhaus is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based playwright, producer and actor. Blake was a participant in ATYP’s Fresh Ink National Mentorship program (2022), La Boite’s Assembly (2020) and was the co-recipient of Queensland Theatre Young Playwright’s Award (2017). Blake is one-half of the creative team behind theatre collective Lunch Friend, who debuted at Anywhere Festival in May with “34 Scenes About the Weather”, for which Blake was producer and dramaturg. As an actor, he was a member of shake & stir theatre co’s Primary School Touring team (2021-2023). He holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Acting & Theatre Studies) from USQ (2020).

Aliyah Knight (they/them) is a 21-year-old Sydney-based writer & filmmaker, currently in their final year of a Bachelor of Screen: Production at AFTRS. Their work explores queerness, coming-of-age, and navigating identity through lenses of horror and humour. Their screenwriting credits include short film ‘home bodies’ and short form episode ‘Haunted’. Aliyah is currently working on ‘Consume’, a body horror short that explores ideas of internalised homophobia and religious trauma.

Callum Mackay is a Melbourne/Naarm based award-winning playwright and actor originally from Sydney/Eora Country. Since graduating from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2018, Callum has written five plays: ‘Brittany & The Mannequins’ (Fever103 Theatre), ‘the last train to madeline’ (Fever103 Theatre), ‘MEAT RAFFLE’, and ‘The Book of Daniel’ which will be performed mid next year. ‘Waterfowl’ won the 2023 Queer Playwriting Award, was long listed for Red Stitch’s INK program, a top ten finalist of the Lysicrates Prize and selected to be a part of kXt bAKEHOUSE’s 2022 Storytellers season. Callum also founded Fever103’s Greville Street Play Readings and currently serves as their literary manager.

Tasman is a passionate writer and actor with a particular focus on telling queer stories that centre around the lives of LGBTQAI+ people. Growing up in Canberra, he developed a love for storytelling which led him to complete a summer intensive at the Los Angeles Stella Adler Art of Acting Studio and earn a diploma of screen acting at the New York Film Academy. With years of experience in story telling, he is committed to writing unapologetically for underrepresented communities. Currently, Tasman is pursuing a degree in Psychology at the University of Canberra, with a major in Creative Writing, exploring the complexities of the human experience and translating them into powerful narratives for stage and screen.

I am a student at the University of Wollongong, doing a Bachelor of Arts in Western Civilisations with a Bachelor of Creative Arts, my major in creative writing. I am eager to write in theatrical on-stage pieces and am also interested in most prose writing. I enjoy writing serious dramatical pieces that have an awkward comedic quality to them, my work usually surrounds the comedy and tragedy of mundane life.

Olivia Niethe is an emerging actor, writer, and sketch comedian from Woolgoolga, currently residing in Eora, Sydney. Olivia is interested in engaging with different mediums, particularly devised theatre, as she produces stories exploring rurality, friendship, nostalgia, and sexuality. At the core of her work Olivia seeks to explore questions of existentialism through grounded human experiences.

Jake Parker (he/him) is a multidisciplinary writer currently working on Gadigal land. With a background in prose writing, his short stories and personal essays have lead him to work with Australian literary publications such as Overland. Following a recent shift into screen and playwriting, he is now completing his Masters of Writing for Performance at NIDA. Throughout all of his works, there is a particular focus on class, voluntary displacement and the mechanisms of friendship.

Bronte Locke (she/her) is a writer and actor. Bronte studied Theatre at Naarm’s Victorian College of Arts and was cast in the Stan Original miniseries “Bad Behaviour” upon graduation. At VCA, she was an artist-in-residence at Arena Theatre Company and a cast member of the 2020 Melbourne University Law Revue, “Everything is Fine”. In 2022, she had the privilege of interning on Queensland Theatre’s “Bernhardt/Hamlet” (dir. Lee Lewis). If you asked Bronte to describe her writing style, she would say: “irreverent, rhythmic, dark; like a merry golden retriever playing the drums in a poorly lit room”.

Makaela Rowe-Fox is an emerging interdisciplinary artist based in Boorloo on Whadjuk Noongar land. Recently, she was commissioned by WA Youth Theatre Company to write her play The Pelican (2022) and was a writer/performer in Seven Sisters (Perth Festival, 2023). Makaela has independently choreographed and danced in December Project at AGWA (2020) and has exhibited at Bus Projects (VIC) and Cullity Gallery (WA). In 2019, she was awarded Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for her leading role as a climate activist in the global School Strike 4 Climate movement. Makaela is interested in ecological interdependence across borders/bodies/biomes, as well as intervening in and disrupting neoliberal capitalist structures.

Megan is a writer and director from Boorloo/Perth WA, who recently relocated to Gadigal Land to develop her craft through NIDA’s Masters of Writing for Performance. Since 2018, she has put her distinct brand of comedy onto stages to critical acclaim, most recently winning her the Best Musical Weekly Award at Fringe World 2022 for her pop-rock musical Time Capsule. She has flexed her youthful, upbeat comedic voice through various plays, sketches and musicals, and aspires to continue exploring new stories relevant to the perspectives of young Australians.

I am Naleen Sandhu, a South-West Sydney writer who lives in Cringila for half the year to study at the University of Wollongong (UoW). I use writing as a vessel for my thoughts and I enjoy making art out of them, so that’s what I’ll do! I like to write about a lot but mainly my experiences with family and friends through relationships, love, morality and death. The bumps and potholes in our life paths are the most valuable parts of life, and we should treat them as such.

Pip started their theatrical life as a frog; something no one would expect in the natural world, but then when have they ever been natural? They fully chose the creative life when they were given the opportunity of playing Michael Banks in the Sydney cast of Disney’s Mary Poppins (2011). They have worked extensively as a playwright, debuting with ‘I Hope It’s Not Raining In London’ (Bearfoot Theatre) and then going on to write the 2021 City of Newcastle Drama Association (CONDA) Award-winning Play; ‘Here, There and Everywhere’. They also have a passionate career in adaptation, adapting classic scripts such as Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, Ghosts and Chekhov’s The Seagull.

Michael has been an avid lover of theatre ever since his middle school and recently performed at Adelaide Fringe Festival with Big Dog Salad. However, through the Fresh Ink program last year, he’s recently become a novice script writer. For a while now he has wanted to explore concepts of identity, family, time and youth in creative writing and hopefully one day see those works performed on stage.

El Waddingham (they/them) is an artist, dancer & theatre maker from Yugumbeh country, currently studying a BFA (Acting) at QUT. They are an unapologetically loud voice in challenging theatrical convention, describing their work as a slap in the face with a palm full of biodegradable glitter. A proud queer artist, El performs in drag under the name Lady Diana, and will embark on a national tour of their drag show ‘HOMILY’ in 2023. El is also the artistic director of theatrePUNK co. They’ve worked across professional independent theatre sectors with companies such as The Farm, Queensland Theatre, La Boite, QPAC, Vena Cava and Tits Akimbo.

Dylan Ferenc Nyerges (He/Him) is a writer and ADG Award-Nominated Film Director. Born and raised in Bangkok, Dylan moved to Australia in 2016 to attend film school. Beyond university, Dylan has expanded his Directing Practice to encompass both theatre and film, and aspires to further his written work. In doing so, Dylan hopes to bridge the gap between industries and create stories that reflect an increasingly globalised world – a blend of cultures and experiences.

Inspired by the power of personal heritage, Dylan aspires to blend his cultural experiences and strengthen his unique voice through creative practice.

India (She/Her) is an actor, writer and comedian who happens to be a lawyer in her spare time (some may call it her “full time job”). She started making a scene as a child, where she found joy in honouring her family-bestowed nickname, Beelzebubby. Her love for performing started in dance, which eventually moved into acting and singing and anything else she could do to get on a stage and out of going to school.

India is excited to develop her writing skills through the National Studio so she can finally start writing that TV series she’s always talking about.

Donna (She/Her) is an playwright, dramaturge, and educator. Her body of work includes plays which have won the Griffin Playwriting Prize and the AWGIE award for Stage (Jump for Jordan), AWGIE awards for radio (Spirit, Aurora’s Lament, Mrs Macquarie’s Cello), the Human Rights Award for Drama (Highest Mountain Fastest River), and been nominated for NSW Premiers Literary Awards (Tales From the Arabian Night, Jump For Jordan). For Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image, she wrote two large scale adaptations: Monkey … Journey to the West (2014 Brisbane Festival, 2015 Melbourne Festival, 2015 Sydney Opera House program) and Tales from the Arabian Nights, a widely produced play on refugee themes which was published by Currency Press in 2019.

Donna studied at UTS, NIDA, UNSW, and at UoW where she completed a doctoral thesis entitled Dialogic Interplay: a Strategy for Representing Difference and Cultural Diversity on Stage. She teaches Scriptwriting to Bachelor of Dramatic Arts students at Excelsia College, the Page to Stage writing course at the National Theatre of Parramatta, and works with script development agencies, theatre companies and schools to provide mentorship, dramaturgy and workshops for emerging writers. She also works in script and story development, and is currently developing a cross-cultural musical with The Curlew Collective, and an interactive AI platform for storytelling and playwrights with the Q Theatre.

Donna is a founding member and co-chair of the theatre company PYT | Fairfield, a founding member of the playwrights’ alliance 7-ON, and a member of Milk Crate Theatre’s Artistic Advisory Counsel. Among her works-in-progress are a number of plays informed by her experience working as narrative writer with the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

Vanessa (She/Her) is an award-winning playwright (NSW Premiers Literary Award, 2019 AWGIE Award for Theatre for Young Audiences). Plays include A Ghost In My Suitcase (the play), Trailer, Light Begins To Fade, Every Second, The Magic Hour, PORN.CAKE, Checklist For An Armed Robber, Chipper and Darling Oscar. Currently under commission with Ensemble Theatre to write The One, Vanessa has also been produced at Malthouse, Barking Gecko, STC, Black Swan Theatre, Griffin, Deckchair, Theatre@Risk, ATYP, Tantrum and many others. She is also a playwriting teacher, running workshops for schools, theatre and writers’ festivals. She is an AWG Playwrights Committee member, a NIDA Playwrights Studio graduate and one seventh of playwrights’ company 7-ON. Several plays have been published by Currency including A Ghost In My Suitcase, Trailer and Checklist For An Armed Robber.

Jane (She/Her) is Resident Dramaturg at ATYP. Recent productions for ATYP include Lights in the Park, CUSP, Bathory Begins, April Aardvark and Intersection 2018: Arrival. Other recent work includes Black Cockatoo (Sydney Festival/Ensemble), Lost Boys (Merrigong), The Big Dry (Ensemble/ATYP) and M.Rock (ATYP/STC). Previously Jane has been a Literary Manager at Ensemble Theatre (shared role). For STC she has been Literary Manager, Artistic Associate and administrator of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award as well as a dramaturg on new writing and mainstage productions. She has worked as a script reader for the Royal Court London, PWA, ANPC and Playworks, and has worked extensively as a Mentor with Year 12 students on HSC creative writing projects.

Lewis Treston (He/Him) is an award-winning playwright and researcher from Queensland. Plays include: An Ideal Husband (after Oscar Wilde), IRL, Hubris & Humiliation (Winner Australian Theatre Festival New Play Award), Meat Eaters, Hot Tub (Winner Patrick White Playwright’s Award), Follow Me Home, and Reagan Kelly (nominated for the Matilda Award for Lord Mayor’s Best New Australia Work). He is a graduate from QUT, NIDA and UQ and recently completed an MPhil thesis concerning camp humour in Australian theatre.

Mary has an Associate Diploma in performing Arts and is the recipient of the following National Playwriting Awards – 2016 Lysicrates Prize, The 2008 Rodney Seaborn Award, 2007 Max Affords Award and The 2006 Griffin Award. Her play, ‘Last Letters’ is has been in repertory at the Australia War Memorial for the last eight years. Her most recent work ‘The Dapto Chaser’ was staged at Griffin Theatre Company in 2015 and toured in 2016 /17.

Other works for the stage include – ‘Inside Out’ -Christine Dunstan Productions, ‘Die Fledermaus’ (Adaption) – Sydney Conservatorium of Music, ‘National Security And The Art Of Taxidermy’ – The Glynn Nicholas Group, ‘All My Sleep And Waking’ – TRS. Mary is currently working on commission for Griffin Theatre Company. Mary’s plays have also been showcased at the hotINK festival at Tisch University New York and at The National Play Festival in Australia.

This year Mary’s play ‘Silent Night’ will be staged at the Eternity Theatre as part of the Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s 2017 season.

Mary’s TV credits include sketch writing for ‘The Elegant Gentleman’s Guide to knife Fighting’ for ABC and several episodes of ‘Home and Away’ for Chanel 7.

Michele is an Asian-Australian playwright and theatre-maker working across stage and audio. Her works are about female identity, otherness, intimacy and chaotic worlds, usually through a non-white perspective. She has been commissioned by Radio National, Next Wave Festival, Darwin Festival, Platform Youth Theatre, St Martins Youth Arts Centre, Westside Circus, Platform Youth Theatre, Arts House, Griffin Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre.

She is currently working on new plays about single women and about female security guards.

Michele has been script advisor or mentor to the Home project; the Ribcage Collective; and to student writers through her residency this year at Union House Theatre. She has been a resident at The Playwrights’ Center, USA; a WRICE fellow in China/Melbourne; Malthouse Theatre Co.Lab participant; Ian Reed resident; and an Asialink resident in Laos. She has assessed scripts for Playwriting Australia and for the Australian Writers’ Guild awards. Michele has also been invited to numerous conferences and events to discuss diversity in theatre.

She is the 2015 recipient of the Malcolm Robertson Prize for her new play Going down. She is the winner of the 2016-17 Queensland Premiers’ Drama Award for her play Rice. Rice will be presented by Queensland Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre and Hothouse Theatre in 2017.

Her radio play See how the leaf people run won an AWGIE in 2013. Michele’s audio theatre work Talon Salon was presented in Next Wave Festival 2012 and re-mounted by invitation for You Are Here Festival 2013 and Darwin Festival 2013.

Michele’s memoir, Banana Girl, was published by Transit Lounge in 2013.

Stephen Carleton is an award-winning Brisbane-based writer, and has had his work produced by Queensland Theatre Company, La Boite, Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin, JUTE, Darwin Theatre Company, Brisbane Powerhouse and La Mama. He is the winner of the 2016 Matilda Award for Best New Australian Work for Bastard Territory, the 2015 Griffin Award for The Turquoise Elephant, and the 2004/5 Patrick White Playwrights’ Award for Constance Drinkwater and the Final Days of Somerset. That play also won the New York New Dramatists’ Award, and was shortlisted for an AWGIE, and the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award.  Bastard Territory was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award and the 2010 Patrick White Playwrights’ Award under the title ‘1975’. His play The Narcissist was also shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award (Drama category) in 2008. His musical comedy  Joh for PM (co-written with Paul Hodge) opened the Queensland Music Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse in July 2017.

Stephen is co-Artistic Director of Knock-em-Down Theatre, and has written and produced plays that have been toured with KeDT in conjunction with JUTE since 2004.

He is a Senior Lecturer working within the Drama major at the University of Queensland, where he teaches courses in playwriting and dramaturgy, Australian Drama, and theatre history, specialising in postcolonial and Gothic theatre.

Stephen was also the 2016 co-Chair of the National Playwrights Committee, AWG, with Mary Anne Butler.

Peter Beaglehole is an emerging playwright. His play Strata won the STCSA Young Playwrights Award in 2016. In 2015 he and Back Porch Theatre were awarded a Carclew Project and Development Grant to work on his play Milk-teeth. In 2014 he was mentored by Nicki Bloom and four emerging playwrights as part of ATYPs Fresh Ink program, and his play May Day was shortlisted for the Young Playwrights Award.

He worked with Urban Myth Theatre Company in 2013 as an assistant tutor in their workshop program, as a dramaturge on Pericles and wrote a short piece of musical theatre for the Come Out Festival. He has read short fiction and personal essays with The Hearth and Speakeasy, and published micro-fiction in Dubnium, Flinders Indaily and Antipodean SF.

He also researches the history of Australian drama, focusing on Dorothy Hewett’s plays in production.

Ang is an emerging playwright and dramaturg currently finishing up her Bachelor of Arts (Languages) at the University of Sydney. She completed a playwriting intensive with Young Playwrights Inc. in New York City in 2014 and has been an active member of the Sydney University Dramatic Society as a playwright, producer and dramaturg throughout her university career. Ang is a master of the unpaid arts internship and has just finished a draft of a play narrated by a very cynical slice of bread.

Thomas De Angelis is a playwright, whose works include “Jack killed Jack” (written and directed by Thomas De Angelis, produced by BONTOM, Sydney Fringe Festival; 2012), “The Worst Kept Secrets” (written and directed by Thomas De Angelis, produced by BONTOM, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre; 2014) and “Unfinished Works” (written by Thomas De Angelis, directed by Clemence Williams, produced by BONTOM, Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre; 2016). After graduating from the University Of Notre Dame with a degree in Arts/Law in 2014, he attended NIDA to study a Master Of Fine Arts (Writing For Performance) in 2015. He is an occasional lecturer at the University of Sydney in the Education Faculty, particularly Drama and English. Thomas was also the dramaturg on Elfriede Jelinek’s “Sportsplay” (directed by Clemence Williams, NIDA Graduating Director’s Production; 2015) and “The Cherry Orchard” (directed by Clemence Williams, The New Theatre; 2016). He collaborated with Claudia Osborne on the script for “HeySorryGottaGoBye” (directed by Claudia Osborne, Sydney Fringe Festival 2016) and is the dramaturg for “Bathroom Opera”, a new site-specific opera for the Level 2 Women’s Bathroom of the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney.

Bella has been writing since before the Big Bang (probably). An Australian Poetry Slam NSW State Finalist, co-organiser of Enough Said in Wollongong, and self-confessed nerd, Bella writes to find her limits. From poetry to prose to script to alt-lit, Bella hopes to successfully smoosh them all together and wrap them in food metaphors. For now though, she’ll settle with studying her creative writing major and crying quietly about her French minor.

Suzannah Kennett Lister is an actor, director and playwright. She trained as an actor, graduating from Adelaide College of the Arts in 2014. In 2015 she wrote and directed the original cabaret Myriad for the Adelaide cabaret festival, which has been nominated for the Adelaide Theatre Guide’s Curtain Call Awards for best cabaret. She also worked as assistant director to Geordie Brookman in the State Theatre Company’s production of Betrayal and their collaboration with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Mendelssohn’s Dream as well as assistant directing Someone like U’s production of Bitch Boxer and Adelaide College of the Arts’ production of Earthquakes in London. In 2016 she returned to Adelaide College of the arts as an industry mentor and performed in Back Porch Theatre’s debut production Schmidt.

Louis Klee is an Australian writer who lives in Melbourne, Australia. He is the 2016 Anne Edgeworth Young Writers Fellow and a MFA candidate in writing at the VCA. His writing is forthcoming in Meanjin and his play The Ink Trail was shortlisted for the 2016 Silver Gull Award. In 2015, he graduated from the NIDA Writers’ Studio

Laura graduated her Masters of Fine Arts in Writing for Performance at NIDA in 2015. Since graduating, her plays have been produced in Sydney and Canberra. Laura is currently completing a mentorship with Ross Mueller as a part of ATYP’s Fresh Ink program and is principal playwright of The Anchor Theatre Company. Laura’s play, “the Space Between the Fuel and the Fire” will be produced at NIDA in October 2016. Laura lives in Melbourne and is employed at Howard Fine Acting Studio and Poppy Seed Theatre Festival

Kevin doesn’t really know what he wants to do, so he’s trying out a little bit of everything. Kind of like testing out the free samples at Woolies. Based in South Western Sydney he’s keen about the Community Arts and Cultural Development sector. He has worked with many different arts organisations including the Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Performing Lines and Bankstown Youth Development Service on a variety of projects including community events and theatre productions. Though his first love is acting, he also dabbles in writing and film making. He currently works at BYDS as the administrator and projects assistant.

Eliza is a Sydney based actor/writer and graduate of the 2014 class of Actors from the Flinders Drama Centre.Since then she has studied Screenwriting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and Screen acting at Stonestreet Studios and improvisation at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. Her acting highlights in recent years have included working with Rosalba Clemente, Anne Thompson, David Mealor and Tom Healy. Eliza performed in the world premier sell­out show DELUGE by Philip Kavanagh at the Adelaide Festival of Arts, this year. She is very excited to be playing Mary in Sarah Ruhl’s Late: A Cowboy Song directed by Sarah Dunn, with her own company Ladylike Theatre Collective this September. As a writer Eliza has projects running on both screen and stage. She is one of this year’s Fresh Ink Mentee’s at ATYP which involves writing two plays for staged readings at the wharf this year, the first Water Baby, performed in June and the second Testosterone for the end of this year. Eliza has also been chipping away at a television show she has created, the show titled HELP! Was workshopped and selected for the HubScript event at the Hub Studio in March this year. From there the show has gone into development alongside another TV project with WMBC. Her actingand writing short film credits to date are Harmony and Jess, Phallus, Millennials and Help­short. She has also written creative non­fiction for various online platforms. Eliza is a multidisciplinary artist who is largely focused on creating cross­generational stories through the voice of young people. She is dedicated to the equal representation of women in the arts.

Farnoush Parsiavashi has been performing from a young age, but first discovered playwriting at the age of seventeen with a scriptwriting course at The Canberra Youth Theatre Company (CYTC). She won an award for her first play, Rose Petals, which included a professional production at The Street Theatre, Canberra. From there she continued to write plays, one of which she co-directed for her school, and the other as part of the Artists Unite program at CYTC. After moving to Sydney, she focused on her university studies for two years, before taking a break to study film at Sydney Film School. She recently returned from a year in Helsinki, where she continued her interests in acting, as well as filming a new short film. She is currently in post-production for two short films, both of which she wrote and directed, and has started work on her first full-length play.

Zoe is in her third and final year of her Bachelor of Creative Arts-Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong. She is passionate about dramatic writing, and upon graduation, wishes to continue expanding her work as a playwright as well as learn more about screen-writing. To date, Zoe has collaborated with Dramatic Studio, based at Wollongong’s Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, who produced her short work ‘The Investment’. Earlier this month was the premiere of her most recent work ‘It’s Actually Hockey’, which explored the collective experiences of those she met when travelling India. This premiered at UOW’s Nothing to See Here Festival2016. She enjoys writing comedy and exploring pertinent issues to diverse and contemporary cultures.

Michelle Sewell received a Distinction in her Masters of Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she was mentored by Steve Waters and received the Malcolm Bradbury Award for Scriptwriting. Michelle was a writer in residence at The North Wall earlier this year. In 2015 she was a writer on attachment with Arcola Theatre and The Menagerie Theatre Company. She is a script reader for Theatre 503 and Arcola Theatre. Michelle’s Australian drama, The Games We Played, was produced at Theatre 503 (2016). Her political post-modern drama, Border Control, received runners-up in the Nugent-Monck Prize. It was produced at INK Festival (2016), and will receive a transfer to The Bread and Roses Theatre in November.The Tinder Game, was commissioned by The Menagerie Theatre Company, Cambridge, performed at the Hotbed Festival (2015), and has since been published. It will also receive a transfer to the Bread and Roses Theatre in November. Michelle’s play, The Coast, was produced by The Miniaturists at Arcola Theatre (2016). Strings, a visual theatre performance dealing with depression and anxiety, was produced by Sentry Theatre at the MANIPULATE international visual theatre festival (2016).

Originally training as an actor at Sydney Theatre School, Jordan went on to complete an Arts degree where he studied and wrote on pretty well everything from Muriel’s Wedding to Ibsen, and is now earning his MFA in Playwriting at the Victorian College of the Arts, under the mentorship and guidance of Raimondo Cortese. As a director, his credits include Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things(Sydney Fringe Festival/Kings Cross Theatre) and the hit Australian musical Keating! (Birdie Productions/Bryan Brown Theatre). As a producer; The Shape of Things, Wasn’t Tomorrow Wonderful? (Ferknerkle Productions), Company (MUSE). His first play It’s Been a While premiered in 2014 at the King Street Theatre, and his most recent work Last Drinks, performed at the Exchange Hotel to sold out audiences as part of Brave New Word, was written as a response to Sydney’s rapid levels of gentrification and development. He is currently developing Bred, an ensemble piece based on the behaviour of children and animals, and After Party, an exploration of political figures and their effect on the Australian psyche. He was engaged with Playwriting Australia as a rehearsal room intern on Chris Summer’s Pedagogy for the National Play Festival, directed by Janice Muller and performed at the Malthouse, with dramaturgy by Chris Mead. He has been taught and mentored by Lachlan Philpott, Melissa Reeves, Ross Mueller and many others. His interests as a maker and writer lie in the extraordinary effecting the ordinary, and a range of socio-contemporary and political issues. A proud Asian-Australian, he is deeply passionate about bringing diverse stories and characters to the stage, as well making theatre as accessible and enjoyable as possible, to all. Jordan’s a massive fan of his parents, walking, Law & Order: SVU, good food and smells, long walks on the beach and Hawaiian shirts

Brendan graduated from the University of Ballarat Arts Academy with a Bachelor of Arts: Acting in 2013. There he became skilled in physical theatre, viewpoints, circus, voice and dance on top of learning a more conventional text based theatre acting. Since graduating Brendan has trained and worked in film and been involved with Melbourne Suzuki Theatre. In 2014 he co-founded independent theatre company, Milkbar Theatre. Since then he has produced all three of their shows, acted in one and recently made his directing debut in Darwin.

Lewis Treston is an Australian playwright whose work has been performed in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. He is a graduate from QUT’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) and NIDA’s Post-graduate Diploma (Writing For Performance) headed by leading Australian playwright Stephen Sewell. Since completing his post-grad Lewis’ play Reagan Kelly (dir. Benjamin Schostakowski) has been performed at NIDA as a third year graduation piece. He has also participated in Playwriting Australia’s Dramaturgy Internship, collaborated with renowned director Jim Sharman’s production company Sunday Pictures, as well as having productions and readings of his plays presented at Anywhere Theatre Festival, The Arts Centre Gold Coast, Rock Surfers Theatre Company, QUT and Short & Sweet Festival. Other writing credits include Pre-Drinks and FAT/SNOB (dir. Danielle Carney), Anita Elizabeth Jenson (co-written with Nicholas K Watson), Ghost Cafe and Fireworks (co-created with Jim Sharman and Laurence Rosier Staines). In 2016 Lewis has been appointed playwright in residence at ATYP.

Mark Tripodi is a writer, comedian, and community broadcaster based in Adelaide. He writes fiction for page, stage, and microphone. He also regularly abridges non-fiction for broadcast. A deeply personal passion for language and social equality informs the bulk of his work. Like most queer writers he attempts to find the balance between writing about and being defined by his identity. Apart from writing, Mark runs an irregular podcast, bakes a regular amount for an amateur baker, and lives in an exceedingly Italian house.

Jackson is a graduate of the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, undertaking the Bachelor of Performing Arts – Performance Making course. Prior to this, Jackson studied a Certificate II in Music Theatre at the same institution. Jackson has a history of involvement in numerous amateur, independent and professional productions in a variety of roles, such as writer, director, performer, producer, dramaturg and mechanist. Jackson was involved as a writer and performer in two shows presented at the 2015 Perth Fringe Festival, Dr. von Birchallstein’s Midnight Comedy Hour, and Wake and Bake, a show which he also produced and directed through sandpaperplane. Jackson has participated as performer, deviser, writer and dramaturg on the WAAPA productions of Fallen and Pipe Dream. In 2016 Jackson produced, co-wrote and directed The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights production of 34,000 Forks, nominated for best theatre and a finalist for the Martin Sims award for best WA production.

Jackson attends the National Studio courtesy of The Blue Room Theatre, Perth.

Carissa is a Sydney-based emerging director, dramaturg and actor, and is a co-founder of leftofcentre theatre co. In 2014, she graduated from Charles Sturt University’s Theatre/Media course with Distinction, and as the recipient of the Blair Milan Memorial Scholarship for Performance Excellence and the Frank Ponton Memorial Prize. Her directing credits include Reindeer Games (Bondi Feast 24-Hour Party Playwright 2015), Elegy (leftofcentre theatre co., La Boite’s FAST Festival 2014, FRINGEWORLD Festival 2015), Slut (Bathurst Arts & Theatrical Society, 2013) and What Do You Think? (CYCLE Productions, 2013) whilst she has observed and assisted on Misterman (SIREN Theatre Co., Old Fitz), Jump for Jordan (Griffin Theatre Company, SBW), Playwriting Australia’s most recent National Script Workshop, and Stones in His Pockets (Critical Stages) as Assistant Director. Carissa was also selected for Playwriting Australia’s inaugural Director’s Studio 2014, and the 2015 PACT Collective.

After years of watching curiously from the sidelines as a director and dramaturg, Carissa has decided to try her own hand at the magical and terrifying act of playwriting. Her short play Girl (eats) Boy was featured in Tantrum Youth Arts’ Hissyfest 2014 after touring throughout the NSW Central West; earlier this year, she wrote and performed in leftofcentre’s The Genius Project (107 Projects); and she is currently writing a web-series.

Carissa says, “The National Studio is going to be such a great opportunity to get away from ‘real’ life for a while and focus on writing. I’m particularly excited to meet a bunch of other passionate theatremakers and learn as much as I can from them.”

Sam is a Sydney based playwright and producer. Committed to playwriting since their HSC Drama play Lover’s Bench won the Highly Commended Award in Sydney Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights’ Award 2007, Sam went on to complete a Bachelor of Communications (Theatre/Media) at Charles Sturt University Bathurst. While studying and living in Bathurst Sam wrote and helped produce five of their original plays in four productions; Lover’s Bench and A Sticky Tape Daydream (Cunningham Green, 2009), The Day George and Mary Grew Up (Ponton Theatre, 2009), Dark (Ponton Theatre, 2010) and Dante’s House (Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre, 2011), and collaborated on more than 15 other productions. Since returning to Sydney Sam has continued to write and seek out artistic development, last year launching their independent theatre company Grumpy Mandrake Theatre to produce their co-written Sydney Fringe Festival show Ambrosia (The Annex, 2014).

Ciella is a core working member of the Darwin Fringe Festival Committee, and is involved with a group of young artists committed to making new work and new performance opportunities in Darwin.

Sophie says, “Most of all, I’m looking forward to being able to say the words “I went to the National Studio.” Because even if people don’t know what ATYP is, they’ll be so awed by the words “National” and “Studio” that they’ll give me a few more modicums of respect than that of my standard fare.  And I’ll prance about being pretentious and happy until they forget about it. Yay! Oh, and writing is fun as well.”

Now studying a Bachelor of Communications majoring in Creative Writing at UTS, Morgan, after some life changing plays given to her by her high achieving theatre making friends, and after some late night stream of consciousness experiments with playwriting, feels like she has finally touched on something that rings true with her. She is thrilled and excited to explore this and where it will take her.

Morgan hopes the experience over the week at National Studio will help her to focus this ambition and galvanize her into finding her voice, and her feet. She is most looking forward to “creating a new piece of work with these amazing mentors, something that will really push, and challenge me, something that will take guts to write and something I can really sink my teeth into.” Morgan also wants to thank you for reading this far if you have, and hopes that one day her biography will be a little bit more interesting and filled with actual achievements.”

Ciella is a core working member of the Darwin Fringe Festival Committee, and is involved with a group of young artists committed to making new work and new performance opportunities in Darwin.

Lachlan Philpott is a Sydney based writer and teacher.

As a playwright he has worked with The American Conservatory Theatre San Francisco, Amnesty International, Australian Theatre for Young People, Belvoir Sydney, Bell Shakespeare, Brisbane Powerhouse, Canberra Youth Theatre, Checkpoint Theatre Singapore, Cre8ion, Crowded Fire Theater San Francisco, Edinburgh Festival, Feast Festival Adelaide, Focus Theatre Sydney, Glen St Theatre Sydney, Griffin Theatre Company Sydney, Hothouse Theatre Albury, IronBark London, Kansas State University, La Boite Brisbane, The Lark New York, London Pride, Magic Theatre San Francisco, Mardi Gras Sydney, The Mac Belfast, Midsumma Melbourne, Melbourne Festival, MKA New Writing Theatre, The New Theatre, NIDA, Outburst Belfast, Oval House London, Perth Theatre Company, Playwriting Australia, Q Theatre Penrith, PACT Sydney, The Perseverance Juneau, The NSW Drama Ensembles, The Playwright’s Centre Minneapolis, The Playwright’s Foundation San Francisco, Rock Surfers Sydney, Sydney Theatre Company, TheatreofplucK Belfast, The Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, Tantrum Theatre Newcastle, Red Stitch Melbourne, St Martins Melbourne, The Victorian College of the Arts and The Victorian Arts Centre.

Lachlan’s plays include Bison, Bustown, Catapult, Colder [R.E Ross Trust Award], Lake Disappointment, M.ROCK, Silent Disco [Winner Griffin Award for Outstanding New Australian play, Winner GAP Competition Aurora Theatre Co. USA, Winner best stage play, Australian Writers Guild Awards] The Chosen, Truck Stop [Winner best play, young audiences Australian Writer’s Guild Awards] and The Trouble with Harry. He has had nine plays published.

Lachlan has also done extensive work as a teacher, mentor and dramaturg at theatre companies, schools and tertiary institutions around the world. As the inaugural Australian Professional Playwright Fulbright Scholar, Lachlan was playwright in residence at The American Conservatory Theatre San Francisco in 2014/15. Lachlan is Chair of the Australian Writer’s Guild Playwrights’ Committee.

Tom Holloway is an award-winning playwright based in Melbourne, Australia.

His work has been seen across Australia, as well as in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. His credits in Australia include Storm Boy for Sydney Theatre Company and Barking Gecko, Forget Me Not and Love Me Tender for Belvoir, and And No More Shall We Part and Don’t Say The Words for Griffin. His United Kingdom productions include And No More Shall We Part, produced by Hampstead Theatre and Traverse Theatre for the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe and Fatherland produced by The Gate Theatre and ATC. His play Forget Me Not will be produced by The Bush Theatre this December, and he has been the librettist on the opera South Pole, premiering at Bavarian State Opera in Munich in January 2016. Tom is currently under commission with Manhattan Theatre Club and Melbourne Theatre Company.

Nicki Bloom‘s debut play Tender  was first produced  by nowyesnow in May 2007 as part of the B-Sharp downstairs season at Company B Belvoir Street in Sydney. This production then toured to Hothouse Theatre (Albury) and Griffin Theatre Company (Sydney), playing as part of the main stage subscription seasons at both theatre companies. In July 2009 Tender was produced by the Summer Play Festival at the Public Theater’s  Anspacher space in New York City, USA  Tender also received a reading  at London’s  Donmar  Warehouse in 2010. Tender is published  by Currency Press.  Bloom’s  adaptation  of  Henrik  Ibsen’s  Ghosts  was  produced  by  the  State Theatre Company  of South Australia in October 2008, and is published by Phoenix Press.   She  jointly   adapted   Shakespeare’s   romeo&juliet   with   director   Geordie Brookman, and this adaptation was first produced by the State Theatre Company of South Australia  in August 2010. Additional publications  include Summer,  published by Currency Press in a collection of plays entitled ‘Short Circuit’, and additional productions include Summer  by Griffin Theatre Company in 2008, and Footso/diers by. Stone/Castro and Reel Time Collaborators for Brink’s Gorge Festival in 2009.

Bloom’s  awards include the 2006 Adrian Consett Stephen Memorial Prize (Tender); the  2007  Inscription  Chairman’s  Award  for  Best  Play  (Tender);  the  2008  Patrick White Playwrights’ Award (8/oodwood) and the 2009 Inscription Playwriting Award (8/oodwood)   and  the  Henry  Lawson  Prize  for  Prose.  Her  work  has  also  been shortlisted for several awards,  including  the 2008 New South Wales Premier’s Play Award (Tender);  the 2007 Philip Parsons Playwriting Award (Tender);  and the 2006 Max Afford Playwriting Award (Tender). She has been the recipient of two Goethe­ lnstitut scholarships to Germany- the first a language study scholarship in May 2008 and the second to attend Berlin’s ‘Theatertreffen’  as part of an international forum of theatre-makers in May 2009. Bloom was a 2008 resident writer at Griffin Theatre Company in Sydney. She is an affiliate artist with Brink Productions  in Adelaide and co-artistic director of performance  company nowyesnow.

Anna Jacobson is a Brisbane based writer, poet and artist. She is currently studying Creative and Professional Writing at the Queensland University of Technology. Her poetry has been published in literary journals such as Cordite Poetry Review and Rabbit Poetry Journal. In 2014 she performed her poetry at Couplet at the Brisbane Square Library and in 2009 she won the Queensland Poetry Festival Filmmaker’s Award. In 2009 she also graduated from Griffith University, Queensland College of Art with a Bachelor of Photography with Honours. Anna is looking forward to The National Studio and working with ATYP in 2014. She is particularly excited about the opportunity to meet other writers from around Australia in the beautiful Bundanon setting and developing her playwriting skills. Anna’s artist website is www.annajacobson.com.au

Caitlin Richardson lives in Hobart and enjoys writing prose, poetry and scripts. This year, she has been a participant in Blue Cow Theatre Company’s Cowshed playwriting program and an assistant director for the Tasmanian Theatre Company’s production of Patricia Cornelius’ The Berry Man. In August, she directed a production of her own work- Disclosed (a performance in three cells)– which she wrote as part of an English Honours project in 2012. Caitlin is the convenor of the Tasmanian Writers’ Centre’s group for young writers, Twitch, and is currently completing her Masters of Teaching.

Caitlin says, “I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend the ATYP National Studio this year. It can be a little quiet down here in Tassie, so I’m really looking forward to meeting writers from all round Australia, and finding out some more about what’s happening in theatre over there on ‘the mainland’. I’m also really excited to explore the beautiful Bundanon property.”

As an actor, Callan’s recent credits include Spring Awakening, The Twits!, (StoddArt Productions) The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged] (Popular Theatre Company), Romeo and Juliet (Upstage Theatre), Next To Normal (Newcastle Theatre Company) and David Williamson’s The Removalists (Stooged Theatre). He made his directing debut with Lord of the Flies at Hunter School of the Performing Arts in collaboration with the Boys In Performing Arts initiative, and earlier this year led the creative team of Aftershocks to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Newcastle earthquake. Callan was the resident lighting designer for DAPA theatre and has also recently designed Death Trap, Pride & Prejudice, Wait Until Dark, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, They’re Playing Our Song and The Full Monty: The Musical. He was the recipient of the State Shakespeare Award after writing and performing his adaptation of the play-within-a-play from A Midsummer Nights’ Dream. He received ‘Best Juvenile Performance’ for his work in Beauty and The Beast 2011, and in 2012 he performed his group theatre piece at ONSTAGE.

He is currently a workshop tutor at Hunter Region Drama School, and is also implementing drama curriculums for GATs programs in Hunter primary schools.

Disapol Savetsila is a creative writing student at the University of Wollongong who loves prose and drama. He was published in the Stringybark Anthology ‘A Tick Tock Heart’, and has written for the Theatre versus Everything student initiative, but the rest of his work remains unread in his drawers. He is currently trying to barge into the industry.

Disapol says, “The thing I look forward to most is meeting so many people both in and rising through the industry. Hopefully, if someone really takes off, I’ll be able to ride along on their coattails.”

Emme Hoy is currently studying English and Creative Writing at UNSW and is enrolled in NIDA Open’s Writer’s Studio. In 2011 she came first in NSW in the English Extension 2 HSC, and has since been a joint winner of the ‘Questions Writing Prize’, written a short play performed at the Sydney Fringe Festival and been published in ‘Kill Your Darlings’ Journal.

Emme says: “I’m really excited about the opportunity to meet other young writers and to be a part of an emerging writer’s community. I’m also looking forward to spending a week entirely immersed in a writing project and getting feedback from our mentors, who I can’t wait to meet! The opportunity to intensely focus on a monologue and workshop it with a group of similarly minded people will be an amazing experience.”

Fiona Spitzkowsky is a Melbourne based writer, who has only just developed the ability to call herself that without the support of semi-sarcastic air quotes. Her first produced work was Room 62791 at the Canberra Youth Theatre in 2009. Since then she has completed a Bachelor of Communications (Theatre/Media), graduating with distinction. During her time at university Fiona penned scripts for the Central West Short Playwriting Festival (2013) and Sprung Festival (2012, 2013), including the highly successful comic cabaret A World Without Sex, which toured to Sydney and Brisbane. She was also a finalist in ATYP’s Fresh Ink Competition in 2013 with Paris. She is currently completing a Masters in Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing at the University of Melbourne, paying the bills as the Digital Editor for Big Stories, an online documentary project, and maintaining her passion for theatre through her work with Attic Erratic and fledgling theatre company We Happy Few.

Fiona says: “I’m looking forward to the National Studio as some time to re-focus on my writing and dedicate some time to improve my skills. I am also really excited about connecting with other young writers and industry professionals. It is really comforting to know that there are organisations like ATYP that are there to support and foster young artists like this.”

Holly Brindley graduated in 2012 from the Flinders University Drama Centre Acting Program in Adelaide. She is excited to now be based in Melbourne after a recent relocation. Roles at the Drama Centre include various characters in Attempts on her Life, Silvia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Abigail in The Crucible, Bubnov in The Lower Depths and a chorus member in SLUT. After graduating Holly travelled to London to undertake a month long Shakespeare course at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. At LAMDA she played Leontes in a workshop production of The Winter’s Tale. Holly has also undertaken physical theatre workshops in Barcelona at the MOVEO International School of Corporal Mime. In 2014 she played Malcolm and the First Witch in Adelaide theatre company Foul Play’s inaugural production of Macbeth (dir. Yasmin Gurreeboo). She was also on the writing team for the production, contributing to Foul Play’s innovative adaptation of the text. Holly has appeared in several short films and recently performed in the Wastelander Panda web series for ABC iView (dir. Victoria Cocks). During high school Holly wrote her first play EVE which was performed by Urban Myth Theatre of Youth and the Canberra Youth Theatre. In 2013 Holly received the Flinders University Young Playwrights Award for Blue, which was performed in a staged reading by the State Theatre Company of South Australia (dir. Alison Howard).

Attending the National Studio will be Holly’s first time working with ATYP and she is excited to become better acquainted with the company. She is particularly looking forward to meeting the mentors involved as she has not worked with them before and is confident that their expertise and insights will be great inspiration to create
a new piece of writing during the Studio.

Joel Burrows is a playwright, director and creative producer for Wollongong-based Theatre Verses Everything Productions, which he founded.  He has a deep love for the theatre, and has a burning desire to tell stories about his up bringing in rural Australia, or his surreal nightmares about a sentient vacuum cleaner that attempts to seduce him.

Joel made his professional playwriting debut in 2013 with The Boat, The Message, and the Fridge Full of Turnips, that was presented in Board of Studies’ OnStage/OnScreen, and then performed, by request, at UTAS Student Directed Festival.  He went on later the same year to co-write, and independently produced Theatre Verses Everything.

In 2014, he is currently in his second year of a Bachelor of Creative Writing at The University of Wollongong.  This year Joel’s work The Cod Fish was performed as a part of The Drama Studio’s Final Draft Project.  He is presently developing a new theatrical work Pulp Theatre: Double Feature, which will be performed mid-October at the Phoenix Theatre.

Joel says, “I am looking forward to ATYP’s National Studio 2014 for a plethora of reasons. Learning how to develop monologues from professional playwrights and tutors will be invaluable to improving the plays I am currently devising, but also will be applied to a lifetime of future of practice.  I am also excited about meeting other young writers and experiencing their creative practice. The potential of developing and being apart of a community that is passionate about writing, is exactly where I want to be.”

Julia Patey is an emerging theatre-maker, writer and director from Sydney, NSW. Her theatre-making credits include The Hand of Time (Not Suitable for Drinking), Where There’s Smoke (99seats Theatre & The Blue Room Theatre Summer Nights) and Stockholm (CSU/BATS) Julia is founding artistic director of Sydney-based theatre collective, 99seats Theatre and is a 2013 recipient of The Blair Milan Scholarship Prize. She holds a Bachelor of Communication (Theatre/Media) from Charles Sturt University, Bathurst and is currently undertaking post-graduate studies in Creative Writing at UTS.

Julia currently works in education for Musica Viva Australia and is extremely passionate about creating new work. She is thrilled to be included in ATYP’s National Studio 2014.

Julian Larnach is a Sydney-based playwright. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Government and International Relations, 2011) from the University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma in Dramatic Art (Playwriting, 2012) from the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Julian was awarded the inaugural EMERGE: Riverina Playwrights Commission by the Outback Theatre for Young People and was an Affiliate Writer at Griffin Theatre Company. His play “Umami” was developed through an Australia Council JUMP Mentorship and was selected for a National Script Workshop through Playwriting Australia. He has been shortlisted for the Edward Albee Scholarship and the PWA Re-Gen Seed Commission.

His monologue “Something I Prepared Earlier” was developed at the 2013 ATYP National Studio, was performed as part of the BITE ME production and published by Currency Press in early 2014. Julian has completed creative developments for new works with the Australian Theatre for Young People, Darwin’s National Youth Week Festival, NIDA Independent and Griffin Theatre. In 2014, he has undertaken a writers attachment with Melbourne Theatre Company, a dramaturgy internship at Belvoir and travelled to Europe on an Australia Council ArtStart grant.

Julian attends the National Studio as the winner of the EMERGE: Riverina Playwrights Commission through Outback Theatre for Young People.

Kathleen Quéré is a young writer/actor from Sydney, Australia.  She developed a strong passion for theatre at a young age by becoming involved in countless school productions and writing scripts for her drama class to perform. In 2011 Kathleen’s short play, The Bird, was selected as a finalist in the ‘Fast + Fresh Theatre’ competition. Since then, she has been an ATYP Atypical Advisor (2011 onwards), a Griffin Theatre Company Ambassador (2012) and performed in a production of The Grandfathers as part of the NIDA open program. Currently on a gap year, Kathleen plans to study theatre and/or creative writing at university in 2015.

Kathleen is absolutely thrilled to be a part of the ATYP National Studio 2014. She is incredibly excited and grateful to have the opportunity to spend the entire week immersing herself in her passion for playwriting, meeting other young writers and learning from leading Australian theatre professionals.

Kirsten Lovett wrote a serious stage drama at the age of seven that brought her parents to tears—of laughter. Kirsten continued writing through her teen years, entering an original work in the Atherton One Act Play Festival. Currently completing a BA in English Literature and Drama, Kirsten looks forward to graduating in December. She foolishly hopes to one day make her living writing and acting in plays.

Kirsten says, “Being accepted into the National Studio is an amazing opportunity. An entire week where my only responsibility is writing a monologue and learning more about playwriting seems to good to be true. I can’t wait to start learning from the mentors, and the Studio’s other participants.”

Kirsty Budding is a playwright based in Canberra. She holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in literature from the Australian National University and writes in the genres of drama, comedy and satire. Her works have been performed at the King Street Theatre in Sydney, Smith’s Alternative and the Canberra Theatre Centre. Kirsty also produces and directs shows for her theatre company, Budding Theatre; recent productions include successful children’s show ‘The Fairytale Channel’ and ‘Nothing Is Sacred’, a showcase of comedic plays by Canberra playwrights for Amnesty International. Her next production, ‘I Heart Love’, will be staged as part of the Sydney Fringe in late September. Kirsty has received acknowledgement for her work from the Canberra Festival of One Act Plays, the Short+Sweet Festival and the Sydney Theatre Company. She is looking forward to meeting and being inspired by other playwrights at the National Studio.

Lucy Coleman once found a $20 note on the floor of a fruit shop the exact same day that the Spice Girls movie came out on VHS. It was a great day. Lucy wet her pants during a year two spelling test, Louis C.K features heavily in her dreams and she knows pretty much every line word for word of Never Been Kissed.

Lucy has thoroughly enjoyed working as an actor with ATYP over a number of years. Productions including; 2013 Spur of the Moment directed by Fraser Corfield, the 2012 short film BOOT directed by Damien Power and the 2012, 2013 Voices Project Plays The One Sure Thing and Out of Place.

Lucy is now a writer / director. Completing her Masters of Creative Writing last year at Sydney University, Lucy is currently at AFTRS studying the Graduate Certificate in Screenwriting. Lucy was one of the winners of the ATYP “Where in the World” online monologue competition with her monologue “Hot Kebab Guy”, and is very much looking forward to continuing her relationship with ATYP as a writer at this years National Studio.

Mararo Wangai is a Kenyan born writer, theatre practitioner and media graduate, with a passionate interest in various forms of story telling. He believes in the strength and importance of story telling; as an approach to challenging subjects in an intimate and responsible manner, combined with the multitude of experiences and ideas that they can impart to an audience. Film making is another of Mararo’s artistic ventures and as with theater he is attracted to stories that deal with issues of humanity and the challenges that we encounter in the state of world affairs.

Marcel Blanch-de Wilt is a writer, producer and performer from Adelaide. A graduate from Flinders University with a Bachelor of Arts (English and Education) and a Bachelor of Education, Marcel has been directing, writing and producing shows for the Adelaide Fringe each year since 2008. In 2011, Marcel started stand-up and was nominated for Best Newcomer at the Adelaide Comedy awards as well as competing in the SA Raw Comedy Finals in 2014. Marcel has written four full-length plays, each independently produced and performed. He has recorded over ninety episodes of his podcast The Loose Five and has recently started a new theatre podcast showcasing writers entitled Shakespeare is Dead. Currently, Marcel is Associate Producer for the Crack Theatre Festival in Newcastle and getting ready for Adelaide Fringe 2015 where he will be an event and venue manager while debuting his first solo show.

Marcel’s favourite writers include Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, and Lally Katz.

Marcel says, “I am most looking forward to being around like-minded people who have a desire to create contemporary and relevant work. I also love the idea of being able to meet professional writers and learn more about the industry.”

Nicholas Tan is currently in the second year of his PhD course at the School of Humanities, University of Western Australia. He also works at the local library every second Saturday, which gives him plenty of time to try out other creative pursuits.  Although he participated in monologue performances and public speaking activities in high school, he has never taken a formal drama or creative writing course.

He is looking forward to attend The National Studio, where he will learn new skills and develop his interests further. He is also excited to meet and collaborate with the mentors and other participants.

Sharni McDermott is an actor, singer and dancer with an Advanced Diploma of Performing Arts (Acting) ACPA – 2010. Her credits include Parramatta Girls (2014) The Maids (2011), Stolen (2011), The Rock (2010), Soul Music (2010), Miracles in Brisbane (2009) and Equus (2006). For ACPA Sharni performed lead roles in several productions directed by Leah Purcell including: Low (2010); X-Stacy (2009); Q150 and Long Before (2009); A Midsummer Nights Dreamtime (2008) and Reflections (2008). Sharni sang the National Anthem for opening of the 2011 Indigenous All Stars football match, as well as being a lead singer at the National NAIDOC Ball and The Opening Ceremony of the Brisbane Festival in 2009. She performed as a singer at both The Deadly Awards and the Brisbane Festival in 2008.

Sharni has also travelled extensively throughout Indigenous communities in Cape York in Queensland and the Northern Territory working for both AFL and the Music Outback Foundation to facilitate Theatre and performance workshops with young people. She has also worked with ATYP (Australian Theatre for Young People) on their Djurali Program.

Sharni says, “One of the main reasons I’m excited about National Studio is because I really like the idea of being in the room with a bunch of other young writers. I think what scares me about writing is that it can seem quite lonely. So to be able to share the experience with a bunch of like-minded people I think will be really great.”

Stephanie King is a writer and performer from Sydney. As a writer, she graduated from UTS with a Bachelor of Communications (Writing & Cultural Studies), edited the anthology, The Life You Chose and That Chose You, created a mini-series for South Korean Tourism, writes arts criticism, and is now juggling co-writing a feature film with director Joseph Sims-Dennett with her freelance work. Acting credits include films Teenage Kicks (Craig Boreham), Showboy (Sam Leighton-Dore) and Observance (Joseph Sims-Dennett), ABC’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and for stage, Dr Who (BBC), The Lightbox (Unhappen), Beautiful Thing (Burley Theatre), Morph (Verge Festival) and Animal Farm (ATYP). She plans to return to university to complete her thesis.

Stephanie says: “The National Studio is something I’ve long had spiritually dog-earred among ever-multiplying Firefox tabs. Its mirage hovers: this fab grad-camp where wordy peers skip town to exorcise a piece in a delicious part of the world with O-Two, Arthur Boyd, Jane Bodie and wombats. But NS has fast, very fast become so much more than the uberbootcamp, showcasing little toddler wordsmiths to the national youth theatre body, and, potentially, the Sydney audience, the Australian audience, and even the post-nation digidience! I am word-mad, but criminal in habit. Finally I pinned myself to the wall, handcuffed and threw ATYP the key which—thankyouthankyouthankyou—it caught. Apply heat, boil, simmer, reduce!”

Tahlee Fereday is a young emerging actor and comedian in the Northern Territory. Tahlee’s writing experience includes texting her friends, entertaining Facebook statuses and scripting and producing her own breakfast show “The Breakfast Show With Tahlee” on Darwin’s local radio station Larrakia Radio.

Tahlee is new to writing for performance but hopes that the Australian Theatre For Young People’s National Studio will give her an insight to the craft and the opportunity to learn, share and be inspired by other writers around Australia.

Amanda is a BA Communication/B Laws graduate, a SWEATSHOP: Western Sydney Literacy Movement writer, and a pop culture enthusiast.  Her first play won its Wildcard division at Short and Sweet when she was 16.  Since then she has performed her work at 2012 Sydney Writer’s Festival event Moving People, Bankstown’s 2011 Youth Week event Own It!, and on FBI Radio’s All the Best segment.  She has been published in the UTS Writers’ Anthology 2011: The Life You Chose and that Chose You, Westside New Series Vol 2: On Western Sydney, and Stories of Sydney, and spoke at the launch of the Australia Council for the Arts’ Disability Action Plan for 2014-16.  She attended the National Studio in 2012 and her monologue ‘Red Panda’ was performed as part of ATYP’s Fresh Ink Out of Place showcase.

Amanda says, “I am looking forward to meeting this year’s writers and seeing their work.  I had a lot of fun, learnt a lot, and met many lovely people during my time at National Studio.  I anticipate it to be just as invigorating this year, and hope to hear some new and exciting writing for Australian theatre.”

Jane Bodie is a playwright, screenwriter, mentor and director. Jane’s plays include Music (Griffin 2014) This Years Ashes (Griffin 2011) Hallelujah (Theatre 503 UK) Out Of Me (Soho Theatre UK) Ride (Belvoir Company B, 59E59 New York) A Single Act (winner of The Victorian Premiers Literary Award 2007 – MTC/Hampstead Theatre UK) Still, Hilt and Fourplay (Trades Hall, TRS and Edinburgh Fringe.) Jane was short-listed for The Ewa Czajor Memorial Award as a director and nominated for the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award. She won a Green Room Award for Outstanding Writing in 2003 for Still.

Jane worked at the Royal Court Theatre with the Young Writers Programme and on attachment at The National Theatre UK in 2005. Jane has written extensively for TV and radio, including The Secret Life of Us, Crash/Burn and Moving Wallpaper. She’s currently adapting This Years Ashes for the screen for Screen Australia.

Jane was Head of Playwriting at NIDA from 2010 – 2012, Associate Artist at The Griffin Theatre in 2013 and was Artistic Associate at Playwriting Australia in 2014.

Jane Fitzgerald is a freelance Sydney dramaturg.

Her most recent project was MRock by Lachlan Philpott, co-produced by ATYP and STC. She works as a Mentor with Year 12 students on HSC creative writing and has been a Mentor for ATYP’s Fresh Ink.

For Sydney Theatre Company she has worked as Literary Manager, Artistic Associate and administrator of the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award as well as a dramaturg on the Blueprints new writers’ program and on mainstage productions.

She has worked as a script reader for the Royal Court London, ANPC, Playworks and STC Young Playwrights’ Award. She has a Master of Arts in Theatre Studies from UNSW. Jane loves working with writers and is excited to be part of this year’s National Studio.

Ross Mueller is an Australian playwright. He has been writing for theatre, radio and film for almost twenty years. He is the Winner of the New York New Dramatists Playwright exchange for his play Concussion.

In March 2009 Concussion premiered at Sydney Theatre Company. In April 2009 his play Hard Core was shortlisted for the Patrick White Award. He is the winner of the Wal Cherry Play of the year 2007 for his play The Glory. In March 2007 his play – The Ghost Writer premiered at Melbourne Theatre Company.

Construction of The Human Heart was short listed for the 2007 AWGIE Award for Best New Play and nominated for five Green Room Awards.

In 2002 he was the Australian playwright at the International Residency of the Royal Court Theatre in London.  His most recent play ZEBRA! premiered at STC in March 2011.

He is currently under commission to ATYP working on a new play about the First World War entitled War Boy.

Lee Lewis is the Artistic Director of Griffin Theatre Company, Australia’s new writing theatre.

One of country’s leading directors, she has directed for Griffin Theatre Company (Silent Disco, The Bull the Moon and the Coronet of Stars,  A Hoax,  The Call, and The Nightwatchman), Bell Shakespeare (Twelfth Night and The School for Wives), Sydney Theatre Company (Honour, ZEBRA!, and Love Lies Bleeding), Belvoir (This Heaven,  and That Face). Her recent work includes for Griffin 8 Gigabytes of Hardcore Pornography, Highway of Lost Hearts for Darwin Festival, and The Serpent’s Table at Sydney Festival. Her production of David Williamson’s Rupert  toured to the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C. in March 2014. She holds an MFA from Columbia University and an MFA from NIDA. Currency House published her book Cross-Racial Casting: Changing the Face of Australian Theatre as part of their Platform Paper series.

Kyle Walmsley is a trained actor based in the Northern Territory. Having performed for children and young people around Australia, he’s trying this new thing where he calls himself a writer. Kyle finds people like Lally Katz, Maxine Mellor and Sarah Silverman amazing. Kyle was a national finalist in Melbourne International Comedy Festival’s Raw Comedy Competition.

Joel Tan is a playwright and performer. He read English Literature at the National University of Singapore where he also studied playwriting with Huzir Sulaiman. He made his professional playwriting debut in 2011 with W!ld Rice’s production of Family Outing, which premiered as part of the Man-Singapore Theatre Festival. Since then, he has been active as a playwright, director and dramaturg in Singapore’s young-people’s theatre scene, mounting full productions of his most recent plays, Postgrads (Takeoff Productions) and People (USP Productions). Joel works closely with other young theatre makers to create theatre that is challenging, beautiful and relevant. To this end, he has mentored young participants of Buds Youth Theatre in playwriting and is a core member of Takeoff Productions, a small independent theatre company dedicated to commissioning new writing by emerging playwrights. Joel’s attendance at the Studio has been made possible through the support of the National Arts Council (Singapore) and in collaboration with Checkpoint Theatre (Singapore), where Joel is an Associate Artist.

Jake Brain recently graduated the University of Technology Sydney with a Bachelor of Communication (Writing and Cultural Studies).He has studied Screenwriting and is new to writing for the stage.

Cassandra Ramsay is a writer, performance maker, arts administrator and creative producer for the Ipswich-based theatre group THAT Production Company, which she co-founded. She has a Bachelor of Secondary Education and a Bachelor of Applied Theatre from Griffith University. She is currently writing her first full length play as a part of JUTE Theatre Company’s Enter Stage Write program.  This year Cass wrote and performed in Thursday’s Child’s for the 2013 Anywhere Theatre Festival, Lost & Found: The Quiet Carriage for Spare Change Collective, and is collaborating with Timothy Wynn to adapt The Tuckshop Kid by Pat Flynn for the 2013 StoryArts Festival. Cass is also devising a new work, Envelope, with performance collective The Vertebras, which has been programmed as part of Metro Arts 2013 Season of Independents.

Zsuzsanna Ihar has spent countless summers within her bedroom growing allergic to sun and writing endlessly. Her visual triggers include brutalist architecture and fluorescent lit supermarkets, ending up usually as verbal vomit she dares call sentences and paragraphs. Being a post-Soviet child, born in a small town bordering Slovakia and Hungary, her writing usually concerns a bygone world of Ersatz goods, peeling lead paint and 0.99 cent ham. Through spoken word poetry, scriptwriting, illustrations, performance art and musical production she has found a cranium shaking way to express herself and finally leave the apartment, performing at such venues as Verge Gallery, the Hub and Mori Gallery. She is also an avid fan of embroidery, watching The Golden Girls and generally all spinster-esque activities.

Felicity Pickering is a playwright and writer. She dabbles in a lot of things, but most of all just likes to be creative and be around creative people. She has been published in The Stonesthrow Review (State University of New York, New Paltz Creative Writing Anthology), The Evening Lands (2013 UTS Writers’ Anthology), Promise (Monash University Undergraduate Prize Shortlist) and other publications. Felicity has a passion for dramatic writing and theatre. She has had two plays produced The Banquet (2011) and Neighbours’(2012) and was an actor/devisor for Freshly Squeezed (2012). She has been a Dramaturgy Intern for Playwriting Australia and other exciting things. Her favourite time to write is the dead of night with plenty of tea.

Julian Larnach is a Sydney-based playwright. In 2013 Julian was Affiliate Writer at Griffin Theatre Company, shortlisted for Playwriting Australia’s Re-Gen Emerging Playwright Seed Commission and is undertook an Australia Council JUMP mentorship with Melbourne Theatre Company’s literary manager, Dr. Chris Mead. He has recently completed creative developments for new works with the Australian Theatre for Young People, Darwin’s National Youth Week Festival, NIDA Independent and Crack Theatre Festival. Julian graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Government and International Relations, 2011) from University of Sydney and a Graduate Diploma in Dramatic Art (Playwriting, 2012) from the National Institute of Dramatic Art.

Faith Ng is a Singaporean playwright. Her works include For Better or For Worse (2013) and wo(men) (2010), which was nominated for Best Original Script in The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards (2011). She has also written for Short & Sweet Festival, Seed Festival, National University of Singapore Festival and Singapore Arts Festival. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Creative Writing: Scriptwriting at the University of East Anglia, under the National Arts Council Postgraduate Scholarship.  Faith’s attendance at the Studio has been made possible through the support of the National Arts Council (Singapore) and in collaboration with Checkpoint Theatre (Singapore).

Grace Chipperfield is a student in her fourth year at Flinders University in South Australia where she is completing a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Creative Writing) and a Diploma of Languages (Spanish). She has only come to playwriting fairly recently, but since then has tried to learn all that she can and get as much experience in this area as possible. She is currently taking part in a collaborative university innovation grant project in which she has adapted Nart Sagas from the Caucasus into a short play which will be performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2014.

Tasnim Hossain is a performance poet and playwright from Canberra. She is completing her Bachelor of Arts (International Relations), majoring in International Communications, at ANU and has worked in drama outreach programs run by the university, as well as poetry slam workshops funded by Arts ACT. She is passionate about working with young people and is one of Canberra Youth Theatre’s Associate Playwrights for 2013. She has performed around Canberra at poetry slams as well as at Multifringe 9.2.13, the fringe component of the National Multicultural Festival in 2013, and at the You Are Here festival in 2011. She is interested in writing about what home and belonging means for people of different generations, cultures and gender identities, as well as the intersections where people from different backgrounds meet. She is currently working on a short play for Canberra Youth Theatre’s season of staged readings.

Zac Linford is a Geelong based writer currently enrolled in his third year of Professional and Creative Writing at Deakin University. He is a member of the Arts Advisory Panel and a board member for Courthouse Arts, where he contributes to ongoing art events, collaborations and involving the youth in Geelong and the Bellarine. He is also participating in the Fresh Ink 4×4 playwright mentorship at Courthouse ARTS (Geelong). Influenced by misheard sayings and half-hearted conversations, Zac’s style and interests stretch to all forms of creative communication. At present he is working on several scripts and collaborations with fellow writers and directors in the industry.

Emily Sheehan graduated from the acting program at the Actors College of Theatre and Television in 2011. Her recent stage credits include Dance Hall Days (Q Theatre Company), Baby Doll (Factotum), And The Winner Is (Perform Educational Musicals), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Epicentre), The Merchant of Venice (Genesian) and Stage Fright (The New Theatre). Emily has just returned home from Chicago where she was thrilled to receive a scholarship to study Improvisation & Comedy Writing at The Second City Training Centre.

Jory Anast is in her third and final year of a BFA degree at QUT, majoring in Creative and Professional Writing, and Film, Television and Screen. She is a poet, a playwright, a screenwriter and a short story enthusiast.

Christopher Bryant is a Melbourne based theatre-maker who has been writing since he was too small to remember doing so, and hopes to continue until he is too old to remember doing so. He has written, directed and performed – thankfully not all at once – at various venues around Australia and has loved every second of it (even the moments of 2am despair). As a writer, his credits include A Reading List for the Outback Housewife at La Mama (writer/co-director, 2011) which also won Monash University’s Andrew Bovell Playwriting Award, Eulogy (Adelaide Fringe/Collingwood Underground, 2012), the “rabidly camp” Rigor Mortis (Cameron Woodhead; The Age) in the Midsumma Festival (2012), and most recently the “disturbing truth” Acidtongue and Dollface (Izzy Tolhurst; InPress Magazine, 2013). He is currently undertaking a Masters of Arts and Cultural Management at Melbourne University.

Didem Caia was a recipient of a Grace Marion Wilson Fellowship through writer’s Victoria and the Wheeler Centre, where she was mentored by Raimondo Cortese. She played Bianca in a Courthouse Arts/ATYP production, FONY 2013, and worked with Sydney based company Subtle Nuance on their collaborative project, The Political Hearts of Children. More recently, Didem has been awarded an RE Ross Trust Script Development award for her new play, Vile. This same play has been included in the upcoming PWA National script workshop, under the direction of Tim Roseman. Didem has a Diploma in Theatre arts from Victoria University, a Bachelor of Creative Writing from RMIT (screenwriting) and a Postgraduate diploma in playwriting from NIDA.

Sunday Emerson Gullifer is a writer, director and editor living in Sydney. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Performance Studies and American Studies) from the University of Sydney, and is undertaking a Master of Media Arts and Production (Filmmaking) at the University of Technology, Sydney. For her writing she won the University of Sydney’s Henry Lawson Prize for Prose and Adrian Consett Stephen Memorial Prize, the Australasian Publishing Group’s ‘Write4Fun’ poetry competition and was one of 30 finalists out of 10,000 entries in the Melbourne Writer’s Festival ‘Write to the Limit’ competition. Sunday recently completed the short film, Bridge Views, which she wrote, directed and edited. She works in theatre, and has created trailers and behind-the-scenes videos for a number of theatre companies in Sydney.

Sophie Hardcastle studied Fine Arts at Sydney College of the Arts after being fast-tracked into the course by International artist Lindy Lee. Recently she suspended her studies to focus on writing her second book, having already written an 80,000-word novel at the age of fifteen and an 8000 word short story at the age of seventeen. Although having no experience as a playwright, Sophie won a Mosman Literary Prize in 2010 for her prose and a NSW Premier’s award for All Round Excellence in 2011.

Keir Wilkins is a writer from Western Australia. After completing his BA in Film and Performance Studies at Curtin University in Perth, he went on to gain a Graduate Diploma in Screenwriting from the Australian Film Television and Radio School.

As a screenwriter, Keir’s short films Bystander, Life in Red String and Blue, have been recognised in both national and international film festivals and he has been named “Best Young Filmmaker” at the 2013 WA Screen Awards and 2011 Shorts Film Festival, as well as picking up numerous awards for his writing. More recently, Keir has worked as a script attachment on telemovie Underground: the Julian Assange Story, and as a creative writer on feature film, The Turning. As a playwright, Keir has adapted The Imaginary Body’s, 100, and is currently writing a play for Powerhouse Youth Theatre. He is currently in development of his first television series, Miseducation, with Hatch Entertainment.

As a writer, Declan’s recent works include Moth and Pompeii, L.A., both for Malthouse Theatre. Moth has also had seasons at the Brisbane Powerhouse, the Sydney Opera House, at the Bush Theatre and will be staged at the Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. in March 2014. He has been awarded the Malcolm Robertson Prize, the Max Afford Playwrights Award, an R.E. Ross Playwright’s Development Award, the Green Room Award for Best Original Writing, and the AWGIE for Theatre for Young Audiences. Directing credits include The Unspoken Word is “Joe” for MKA/La Mama. He is one half of DIY theatre duo Sisters Grimm (with Ash Flanders), and has co-written and directed shows including Little Mercy and Summertime in the Garden of Eden. In 2013 Sisters Grimm has presented work at Sydney Theatre Company and will also be working with Melbourne Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre.

Angela Betzien is a multi-award-winning writer and founding member of independent theatre company Real TV. Her work has toured widely across Australia and internationally. Angela’s recent writing credits include Tall Man (RealTV & Magictorch) Where in the World is Frank Sparrow? (Graffiti Theatre) Helicopter, (Melbourne Theatre Company), The Dark Room (Belvoir) Girl Who Cried Wolf (Arena) War Crimes, Hoods and Children of the Black Skirt (RealTV). She received the 2011 Sydney Theatre Award for Best New Australian work, The 2012 Queensland Literary Award for Drama, the 2012 Kit Denton Disfellowship and the 2008 Richard Wherrett Award for Excellence in Playwriting. Angela has also conducted writing for performance workshops, residencies and projects with schools, universities and community groups for many years.

Jane Bodie is an acclaimed writer for both theatre and television who in 2007 won the prestigious Louis Esson Prize for Drama awarded by the State of Victoria, Australia. Jane was nominated for the Patrick White Playwrights’ Award in 2002 and won a Green Room Award for Outstanding Writing on the Melbourne Fringe the following year for her series of monologues, Still. She was also short-listed for The Ewa Czajor Memorial Award in 2000 for her work as a theatre director.Jane was Head of Playwriting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney from 2010 to 2012, and is now an Associate Artist with Griffin Theatre. She has worked extensively as a playwriting teacher, mentor and workshop leader, in universities, schools, prisons and among the community.

Tim Roseman is a director, dramaturg and producer, and is the Artistic Director of Playwriting Australia.

From 2007-2012 he was Joint Artistic Director of multi-award-winning new writing venue Theatre503 in London, where his productions included Life for Beginners, The Girl in the Yellow Dress, Breed, Trolls, Peter and Vandy, This Much Is True, Natural Selection, The Final Shot and Decade. His other UK theatre directing credits include: Overspill (Soho Theatre, Churchill Theatre, Bromley), The Arab–Israeli Cookbook (Gate/Tricycle), Don Juan Comes Home from the War (National Theatre Studio), The Girl in the Yellow Dress (Salisbury Playhouse), Skittles are a Reason to Live (BAC), revival of Journey’s End (New Ambassadors, West End and national tour), A Number(Dailes Theatre, Latvia), You Might As Well Live (New End), To My Man (Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford/Haugesund Teater, Norway), Lovers(New End), Così (New End), What Didn’t Happen (Old Vic), 90 Minutes (Southwark Playhouse), Blackrock (Young Vic), Recruitment(King’s Head), Our Town (Warwick Arts Centre), On Cigarette Papers (Old Vic/RADA), Kingdom on Earth (Landor) and Nearly All Sondheim (Greenwich Playhouse).

He has been invited on three occasions to direct the Old Vic’s Celebrity 24-Hour Plays. He has worked extensively in new writing and has developed plays with the Old Vic, Young Vic, Royal Court, Hampstead Theatre, Soho Theatre, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Pleasance, Gilded Balloon (Edinburgh), Caird Company and RADA. He was Joint Artistic Director of the Theatre Royal Haymarket’s New Directions season. Since relocating to Australia, he has directed Rapid Write: Hollywood Ending for Griffin and Story of the Red Mountains for NIDA.

Nitin Vengurlekar is a performer, writer, vagabond, compulsive liar and ignoramus. He has created a number of short works of nonsensical prose and performance exploring themes of abject failure and redemption. Most recently, Nitin has written a series of pieces for Westside Publications (forthcoming, 2012) and performed some of his poetry as part of the 2012 Sydney Writers’ Festival. His work is underpinned by an interest in the intersection of absurdist drama and children’s literature, and their mutual investment in questions of morality. Nitin is currently completing a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies/Film Studies at the University of New South Wales.

Christopher Harley is a Sydney-based writer and composer. With a focus in writing for theatre, Christopher’s plays and musicals have performed in Sydney and Newcastle, by both professional and amateur companies. His first musical, In a Pink Tutu, was professionally premiered as part of the inaugural 2010 Sydney Fringe Festival with a successful season at the Seymour Centre. Before this, the musical was staged in Newcastle, winning him a City of Newcastle Dramatic Award. Other plays include The Kimono-Wearing Queen, Brickwalls and Waterfalls, Ready or Not and The Four Walls of Perfection. Christopher also works as a freelance incidental music composer and has composed the scores for plays including The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, Woyzeck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Love’s Triumph. Christopher holds a Bachelor of Music (Hons) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Christopher won the Love Bytes competition, as part of The Voices Project, with How Was Work?

Sara West Having graduated from the Flinders Drama Centre in 2010 Sara West has since moved from Adelaide to Sydney and is now a Sydney-based actor and aspiring writer. Most recently Sara played Milla in Rita Kalnejais’ new Australian play Babyteeth for Belvoir St Theatre where she discovered the unbelievable love of working on new text from an incredibly inspiring writer. Alongside what she hopes will be a successful career as an actor Sara has always had a passion for writing; call it the impatient actor within but stories with strong female characters who are somewhat unconventional have always caught her attention. With an intense interest in film writing Sara is currently in post-production of her own short film River Water, which she has written and directed with the hope of the feature film version being funded.

Amanda Yeo is currently in her final year of a Laws/Arts degree. A playwright and author, her plays have been performed at the Short and Sweet festival of short plays, and her writing featured on FBI Radio and published in the UTS Writers’ Anthology 2011. She enjoys comic books, action movies, and video games, though hardly considers herself an expert at any of them.

Charles Purcell is a Sydney based actor and writer. He graduated last year from UTS’ creative writing program and is currently undertaking a dramaturgy internship with PlayWriting Australia. In 2011 Charles was selected to take part in the ArtStart Young Screenwriters’ Program at Metro Screen. He is a member of Sydney based performance ensemble piLAB and a current resident of the Rocks Pop-Up initiative with burgeoning theatre company Starving Wolf. His recent acting credits include The Bonfire at the Newtown Theatre and Show Me Yours, I’ll Show You Mine at the Old Fitz, the latter which will tour to the Melbourne Fringe Festival in September.

Ava Karuso is a young playwright from Sydney. Her first writing credit was the short play Spoons and Forks, which was performed and published in 2008 as part of the Page-To-Stage festival. Since then her love of playwriting has grown, and last year her short play Guilt of the Vaudevillian was performed in the Short and Sweet festivals in Melbourne, Brisbane and Gold Coast and Sydney. Ava also had a play in the 2012 Sydney Fringe Festival called Rope Burn, a two man show about life, death and men. Ava was also part of the Australian Improv Team who travelled to Ottawa to perform in the Canadian Improv Games. She has studied improvisation with Impro Australia, Second City L.A. and iO West (Los Angeles). Ava is greatly inspired by playwrights Edward Albee and Martin McDonough, and the darkly comic nature of her work reflects this. Ava undertook an artistic residence at the Shopfront Contemporary Arts Centre in 2012.

Joel Perlgut is a dedicated follower and sometimes writer of theatre, film and fiction. Unfortunately these hobbies come burdened with delusions of grandeur. He is trying to stave these off by immersing himself in the craft, by reading, by learning, by writing. He graduated Killara High School in 2010 after receiving first place in Extension Two English and the Senior Writer of the Year award. In 2012 he wrote and produced his first short film, a black comedy. In his spare time he studies Media Arts in Production at UTS.

Josh Forward When Josh Forward was seven he played the Prime Minister in a production of The Emperor’s New Clothes in a local hall in the Blue Mountains. Despite being critically panned, Josh’s love of theatre has bloomed ever since, dedicating his time to every aspect; performing, producing, managing, watching and has settled on writing. Since graduating from his writing degree at UTS in 2010, Josh has been involved in The Sydney Fringe Festival, Griffin Festival of New Writing, atyp, Short and Sweet, and many other arts organisations and is always on the lookout for more. Having acted in Burnt by Chris Summers as part of the inaugural show The Voices Project: Tell It Like It Isn’t, Josh is excited to be on the other side of the page.

Izzy Roberts-Orr is 21 and really tall for her age. She lives in Brunswick, Melbourne in a house with lots of records, never enough clothes and too many stairs. Izzy writes poems and sometimes speaks them through microphones because it’s fun to see what people will do when you throw words at them. Izzy writes plays (NightMinds, Twins) and sometimes people act them in front of audiences (Adelaide Fringe, MKA at MTC). Izzy Roberts-Orr talks back.

Arda Barut has a double degree in Communications and the Arts and is currently studying his Masters in Information and Knowledge Management at UTS. He has been a long-standing contributor to Westside Publications, having his first poem and talent recognised at only thirteen years of age. In 2004 he co-directed and wrote a short work for UTP’s Short’n’Sharp 3 and in 2006 worked as the director of photography and co-writer of the documentary Consumed, featured at the Westside 06 launch. In 2009 Arda performed a live reading of his poems ‘Bucket’ and ‘The Sand Man’ at the Sydney Writers’ Festival event Westside at the Wharf for the launch of Westside New Series Volume 1: Fill Your Bucket. Arda continues his work in poetry and photography and is eager to develop further outlets to express his art.

Bianca Kostic London trained as an Actor at Flinders Drama Centre in South Australia where upon graduating, was awarded the Neil Curnow Award by the Helpmann Academy. With the support of the Helpmann Academy and the Government of South Australia Arts board, she was able to train in the Classic Texts of Shakespeare and Chekhov at the Stella Adler Acting Studio in New York City. Upon completion of her studies she then worked with The Wooster Group on Vieux Carre, and where she was able to have a hands on experience as to how the company created such contemporary, politically charged pieces. On returning to Australia she has been focused on new collaborations with fellow actors.  A writer at heart it was her position as Production & Acquisitions intern at Hopscotch films that grew her intrigue in writing for theatre or film.

Emily Meller is a Communications (Writing and Cultural Studies)/Law student at UTS in Sydney. She is not sure if writers can really be ‘aspiring’ (you either write or you don’t, right?) but if they can be, she is. She has published articles in both Vertigo and UTS’s Ideas in History Journal. A semester of film and screen studies was enough to ignite an obsession, and subsequent foray (read: password protected folder), into scriptwriting. It is hoped her vast knowledge of television shows, depressing literature and coffee making will amount to an impressive and original body of work, or at least the perfect latte.

Kerith Manderson-Galvin imagines one day she will live in a Wendy house on a secluded hill and cover the walls and ceilings with poems written on paper napkins. This will be her greatest work of art. Her plays Sunny Side Up and The Hat Box met critical and audience acclaim and sold out shows. The Keep was featured as a reading in MKA’s Open Season 2010 and in 2011 Rockefeller was workshopped with the help of MKA@MTC and in 48 hours she penned Love Serenade of the Nymph for the Emerging Writer’s Festival. Her poetry has been published in online journal Verb-ate-him and PASH and on voice at Midsumma Events Dangerous Curves Ahead and Love Me, Love Me Not. Most recently she co-wrote an audio tour (as facilitated by Punch Drunk and Arcola Theatre UK.) for the National Play Festival and her monologue There Will Be Time won third place in ATYP’s Love Bytes competition. She is a co-founder of independent theatre company Family of Strangers and is currently involved as producer and dramaturg of their latest project.

Pollyanna Nowicki is a stage and screen actor with skills in physical theatre, singing, accents, make up, design, directing and photography. She is a graduate of Sydney Theatre School’s Advanced Diploma of Classical Acting and a Diploma of Theatre Performance. In 2009 she was awarded a Commendation for Acting from the Sunday Times NSDF Emerging Artist Awards for her performance in at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2012 Pollyanna was an artist in residence at Shopfront Theatre For Young People, and performed in Pop-Up activations at The 2012 Rocks Village Bizarre with Shh Theatre Company’s How To Loose Sight. She likes to explore storytelling through theatre, film and image. Pollyanna was a finalist in Love Bytes, with Catathrenia, and also appeared in Velcro and Kore/Kore.

Randa Sayed is an actor, director and writer. She has grown up in Western Sydney. She has a Bachelor of Performance Degree from the University of Western Sydney and studied at the Jacques Lecoq School of Movement and Theatre. She received first prize in the 2011 BCC Valuing Our Strengths art competition. Most recently, she performed her writing for the 2012 Sydney Writers’ Festival event, Moving People and the 2nd Griffringe of 2012 at the Griffin Theatre. Westside New Series: Vol. 2 will be her first appearance in a literary journal. She recently directed and produced the first inaugural Young Creative Festival of Shorts, at Parramatta Riverside and directed her first short film, Dead Boy. She was shortlisted in ATYP’s 2012 Love Bytes competition and will be performing in Heart Dot Com, at the TAP gallery in October 2012.

Krystal Sweedman Hailing from the small town of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Krystal Sweedman grew up writing plays and songs, and performing in musical theatre productions. After completing a drama degree at the University of Queensland she has spent every spare moment watching productions, devouring scripts and trying to explore the theatrical possibilities of the written word. Krystal was recently selected as a finalist in Queensland Theatre Company’s Young Playwright Program and is developing her play Crema with dramaturgical assistance from Playlab. Earlier this year, Babycino (a shortened version of Crema) was performed as part of Anywhere Theatre Festival. Other credits include The Green Bag Bandits, a short play produced by Underground Productions and lyrics for the musical Tribes of Avalon.

Tom Mesker From Sydney’s Northern Beaches Tom Mesker is excited to be joining the National Studio in 2012, a passionate writer, actor and director he is keen for this new opportunity to learn and explore his writing. His previous writing credits include Portraits, that was performed at Bathurst’s Regional Art Gallery as his major project while studying Theatre and Media at CSU, and more recently Spinning, performed at last year’s Short and Sweet Melbourne.

Grace De Morgan is a Sydney-based writer/performer who finished her Masters in Writing for Stage & Broadcast Media at the Central School of Drama, London in December 2010. Her performed works include short plays My Brotherʼs Keeper and Three’s Not the Magic Number (as part of Theatre 503ʼs Rapid Write Response initiative in 2010) and Riding the Red (as part of the 2012 Short and Sweet Festival at Sidetrack Theatre, Marrickville). In July 2009, Grace spent two weeks on a writing internship at Channel Tenʼs Good News Week. After her first play Integrity’s Wench was long-listed for the Edward Albee Script Competition Award in 2010, the Australian Writers’ Guild invited her onto their Pathways program. Then from March to June 2012, Grace participated in Augusta Supple’s Write Here, Write Now playwrights’ initiative. Grace is currently working on the first draft of her new play, Modern Warfare.

Tania Canas is a theorist, performer and spoken-word artist. Tania has completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Arts (Drama and Psychology) and a Master’s Degree in Communications at RMIT University. She has performed as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival, Next Wave and Amnesty International’s ARTillery Festival. Earlier this year Tania was selected to be on a panel as part of the 18th Annual Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Conference at the University of California, Berkeley. Tania believes in theatre as a cultural act of self and social transformation. She derives inspiration from classical and cultural theorists, nueva trova, hip hop, personal and social history as well as the everyday.

Julia-Rose Lewis is a writer, photographer, performance maker and arts administrator currently working full time as The Youth Program Coordinator for Queensland Theatre Company. Julia’s theatre credits include: as writer, The Girl Who Fell In Love With Winter (QUT Production 3, 2010); as performer, Elephant Gun (The Escapists & BreadBeard Collective, World Theatre Festival 2011 and 2012); as assistant director: GENESIS by Benjamin Knapton (QUT, 2009), The Tell Tale Heart (QUT, 2009); as dramaturg, R&J >< Greater Than Less Than Ampersand Romeo And Juliet (Vena Cava Productions, 2010). Other credits include: Associate Artistic Director (Vena Cava Productions, 2010), Program Coordinator (KITE Arts Education Program QPAC, 2010, 2011). Julia-Rose loves writing, making new friends in the supermarket, photography and Turkish delight.

Ola Animashawun has 25 years of experience of working in theatre, with 15 years specialist experience in the field of playwriting workshops and script development. He is an Associate Director of THE ROYAL COURT THEATRE (described by the New York Times as the most important theatre in Europe because of its work with new playwrights) and was the founder of the Royal Court’s famous Young Writers Programme. Further to directing it for 10 years, he currently leads two of the three introductory writing courses offered by the Royal Court Studio, alongside programmes in Brighton, Birmingham and Coventry. To watch Ola speak about teaching playwriting at the Royal Court, CLICK HERE.

Formerly Artistic Associate of the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham, Ola’s other roles include radio presenter, script editor/advisor and outdoor theatre producer. As EUPHORIC INK’s Creative Director, Ola leads an ongoing programme of taster sessions, weekend workshops and bespoke courses across the UK, also working with individual writers via one-to-one tutorials, script development sessions.

Rebecca Clarke graduated from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) with a BA Acting Degree in ’97 and in ’11 she completed an external QUT Masters of Arts in Research (Playwriting). Along with numerous acting roles (including Home & Awayand Water Rats) she has written published poetry, arts and screen articles, short stories and films and produced plays.

Rebecca wrote and performed her one-woman show, Unspoken, for Sydney’s Old Fitzroy Theatre in ’05, directed by Wayne Blair. Later the script was published by Currency Press and the show and Rebecca’s performance were awarded at the Sydney Theatre Awards. Unspoken was also highly commended for the Philip Parsons Playwriting Award and short-listed for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards. Produced by Performing Lines, Rebecca toured Unspoken in ’06 and ’07, and later recorded the show for ABC Radio National’s Airplay.  Rebecca has written short works for Sydney Ghost Stories, Stories from the 428 and Brand Spanking New. Rebecca’s second full-length play, Belongings, was workshopped with the Qld Theatre Co, via the Qld Premier’s Drama Award. The play also received support from Arts NSW and the Australia Council Literature Board grant. Her first short film, Sam’s Gold, received 2011 Screen NSW Emerging Filmmaker funds in 2011.

Vanessa Bates An award-winning playwright, Vanessa has written for stage, television and radio. She is the Playwriting Australia Playwright in Residence at GRIFFIN THEATRE, SYDNEY. Her plays include: Porn.Cake developed through the PWA National Script Workshop 2010 (Malthouse Theatre, Griffin Independent in 2012), Checklist for an Armed Robber (Vitalstatistix, theatre@risk, Belvoir B-Sharp, Deckchair Theatre), Hunger (Griffin), Match (Tantrum Theatre) and Darling Oscar (Sydney Theatre Company, Black Swan Theatre). For fringe/independent theatre, plays include The Night We Lost Jenny (New Theatre), Confetti (Stories from the 428), Homemade (New Theatre), At Sea and Petunia Takes Tea (both Short&Sweet and The Miniaturists-London.) She has had several plays commissioned and produced by ABC Radio National including the AWGIE winning adaptation of Checklist for an Armed Robber.

Vanessa wrote for two seasons of acclaimed SBS television drama East West 101. She is currently writing a new and exciting play just right for a small and exciting stage. She is a graduate of NIDA Playwrights’ Studio and a member of playwrights’ company 7-ON.

Ross Mueller In 2002 Ross Mueller was selected as the Australian playwright for the International Residency of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He won the Wal Cherry Play of the Year (2006) for The Glory, was nominated in 2008 for Best Play in the Green Room Awards for two separate works and won the 2009 New York New Dramatists Playwright exchange for his play Concussion. In March 2011, his most recent work, ZEBRA, starring Bryan Brown and Colin Friels and directed by Fresh Ink mentor Lee Lewis, premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company.

Ross has been shortlisted for the Patrick White Award three times. He has been an affiliate of the Melbourne Theatre Company, was a founding member of Melbourne Dramatists and has been commissioned by Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox, Canberra Youth Theatre, Hothouse and ABC Radio National. His plays are published by CURRENCY PRESS, FULL DRESS PUBLICATIONS and PLAYLAB. Ross is currently Artistic Director of the COURTHOUSE ARTS in Geelong.

Lachlan Philpot is a Sydney-based writer, dramaturg, teacher and director. His first play Bison has had sell-out seasons in Adelaide, Belfast, London, Melbourne and Sydney. His other plays include Bustown, Catapult, Colder [Winner R.E Ross Trust Award 2007], Due Monday, Silent Disco (Winner, Griffin Award for Outstanding New Australian play 2009, Winning Finalist GAP PROJECT Aurora Theatre Co. USA, 2010, shortlisted BEST NEW AUSTRALIAN WORK The Helpmann Awards, 2011) Truck Stop and The Trouble with Harry. Lachlan has worked extensively as a writer with Amnesty International. He was also writer in Residence at Red Stitch Theatre, Melbourne in 2006 and Griffin Theatre Company, Sydney in 2010. Lachlan is currently developing the screenplay of Silent Disco funded by Screen Australia.

Lachlan has directed theatre at Australian Theatre for Young People (atyp) and was Artistic Director of Tantrum Theatre, Newcastle between 2003 and 2006. Lachlan co-founded wreckedAllprods with collaborator Alyson Campbell in 2000 and they have regularly produced work in Australia and the UK. Lachlan has taught extensively. Highlights include initiating an indigenous writing course for aboriginal students in inner-city Sydney, teaching script writing in Kenya, the UK and The Netherlands. He was the Literary Associate at atyp between 2007 and 2010, where he directed Fresh ink, atyp‘s emerging writers’ program.

Jessica Tovey is an Australian actress based in Sydney. She first started working in theatre from the age of six, attending acting classes at the Pact Theatre and through atyp. She attended Newtown High School of the Performing Arts and during that time was a member of the Junior State Drama Ensemble, Senior State Drama Company and was selected for Onstage. Since leaving school she has performed primarily in television on such programs as Home and Away, Underbelly and Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo and stage productions of The Vagina Monologues at the Parade Theatre and Our Town at The Seymour Centre. Jessica is keen to move back into theatre and writing and plans to begin an Arts degree next year via correspondence so she can continue to work both in front and behind the stage. ‘the sun has faded the colour from everything and burnt the trees shadows in the grass? The first day it rained, I cried with joy.’

Phillip Kavanagh completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Creative Writing) at Flinders University in 2009. He is currently in the final year of a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Flinders, which has been undertaken with an Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship. He has had plays produced for Short+Sweet, Adelaide Fringe, Urban Myth and ABC Radio National. He was the joint recipient of the 2011 State Theatre Company of South Australia Young Playwrights Award for Plain Jane. A reading of Plain Jane, directed by Sanja Simic, is featuring as part of NovemerISM, the festival of new playwriting. He was selected for PlayWriting Australia’s third National Script Workshop for 2011, and spent two weeks working with director Iain Sinclair and dramaturg Leticia Caceres on a development of his first full-length play, Little Borders. He was awarded the 2011 Colin Thiele Creative Writing Scholarship. “Her eyes are dead. She has dead eyes. I drop the book and her ears turn her face to me.” Elle from Little Borders

Kendall Feaver is an emerging Sydney based playwright and librettist. Her most recent plays, Friday Night is Family Night (2011) and Rocket Boy (2010), were staged by the Macquarie University Drama Society and both received overwhelmingly positive audience responses. Rocket Boy has since gone on to acclaim at the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival. In 2008, Kendall received runner-up in the STC/SMH Young Playwright of the Year award for her play The Forgotten. In 2007 she was a finalist in Fast&Fresh for her short play I Have a Secret and in 2006 won the Youth Shakespeare Festival with her adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Kendall has gained invaluable experience in the performing arts industry, working with New Musicals Australia, newtheatricals, The Helpmann Awards and The Sydney Fringe. Kendall’s current play, The Hiding Place, is in development with Queen St Studios. “I can count all the people I’ve met in my life on one hand. And I suddenly thought to myself, when these people go, who will remember me? If no one knows you exist, do you? I just felt the need to leave some account of myself behind…” Emily, The Hiding Place.

Emrys Quin is a young playwright twice published with Currency Press as part of the Page to Stage initiative. The reading of his play In the Company of Dead Cats during Playwriting Australia’s Kicking Down the Doors program lead to his Off the Shelf residency with Queen Street Studio, during which the same play was dramaturged and given a live reading. He has recently undergone his first experience writing and directing a production; The Future Historians was staged in August by the UNSW comedy society Studio Four of which Emrys is the 2012 president. When he found out he was part of the National Studio Emrys kissed his local grocer. He now gets significant discounts. “You see students the people of the early 21st century were a curiousity, always quick to blare their unwarranted, barbaric patriotism in the form of their unwarranted, barbaric wars. I, like many, was born in a test-tube but you don’t see me going out of my way to defend glassware.” The Future Historian

Alexandra Macalister-Bills is a 23-year-old student and aspiring writer currently based in Melbourne. She is (fingers crossed) in her final semester of a Bachelor of Arts where she specializes in procrastination. Alexandra grew up in Marlo a tiny little town at the mouth of the Snowy River, a perfect spot for daydreaming. She is addicted to travel and in the last few years she has let herself get lost in both South-Eastern Asia and South America. These bite-sized journeys inform much of her writing, as do her everyday adventures in Melbourne town. Recently her writing has been preoccupied with questions of identity and she would like to blame her interest in cultural studies for this. She dabbles in short-fiction, poetry, travel writing and of course script writing. “…she’s still in a glass box, watching the storm inside” stand still -prose poem (2011)

Lauren Sherritt is an emerging theatre artist building her career in writing and directing contemporary performance. Since graduating from the University of Southern Queensland’s Theatre Arts program in 2009, Lauren has explored themes of modern youth psychology and technology developing the play The Girl Who Went Missing From Nowhere, and has had fun gallivanting around town writing music reviews for Life Music Media. Lauren facilitates drama workshops for Backbone Youth Arts and is passionate about creating theatre that can engage and communicate with contemporary Australian audiences. “What I’m saying is, I think what I’m feeling is a phantom amputation. Every so often, out of the blue, it just feels like my arm isn’t there. Like, it’s there, and I can see it moving and stuff, but it’s not my arm. Do you ever get that?” The Girl Who Went Missing From Nowhere.

Sarah Gaul When her parents took her to see The Sound of Music at age 9, Sarah’s life was never the same again. She threw herself in school and community theatre, later progressing to opera and operetta. After High School, Sarah joined Tantrum Theatre’s Emerging Writers Program, eventuating in the production of Sarah’s one-act play, Three Days. She was mentored through the process by Ross Mueller. In 2010, Sarah worked as an intern for Ross, as well as Debra Oswald, as part of Playwriting Australia’s National Playwriting Festival. After failing to get into acting school for 2 years, Sarah commenced a Law degree at ANU, Canberra, in 2010. She wrote and performed in the Arts Revue, and had the lead in Kiss Me Kate, so it wasn’t all bad. She auditioned again for acting schools and much to her relief was accepted into VCA, studying Drama, in 2011. She has just completed her first year of full-time acting study in Melbourne. Sarah enjoys eating food, running, singing, eating more food and dabbling on the piano. She loves living in Melbourne, and spending all her cash on strong coffee and theatre tickets.

Alysha Hermann is a proud parent and regional artist working across disciplines in the arts, community development and education to develop work which respects and enriches both the audience and her creative collaborators. Alysha is also currently completing a Teaching/Arts degree externally and is the 2011 South Australian Young Citizen of the Year and recipient of the 2011 Advantage SA Sony Centre Arts Award for the Riverland & Murraylands region. Along the road Alysha has been a high school dropout, teenage mum, single parent, waitress, artist, student, sewing machinist, blogger, dishwasher, community facilitator, speaker and many other things in between. Alysha believes in the role of arts and cultural activities in building community morale and inspiration and is committed to social justice outcomes in everything she does as a parent, employee, volunteer and passionate community member. As a theatre practitioner, Alysha is a writer, director, performer and facilitator and was an inaugural Australia Council JUMP Mentee in 2010. Alysha is currently developing PressureLands – an independent community arts performance project working with young people 14-26 exploring pressure and success (Writer/Director) and is the 2012 recipient of the Independent Arts Foundation Creative Writing Mentorship working with award winning playwright Caleb Lewis as her mentor in 2012. For information on past and current projects visit http://alyshaherrmann.wordpress.com

Eloise Maree Performer, playwright and provocateur, Eloise Maree has been known to make some crazy things happen on Brisbane and Melbourne stages over the past few years. This has included writing and performing a script out of words found on toilet walls, painting herself orange in a shopfront while drinking out of giant buckets of vodka lime and soda and allowing small children to dress her in outfits from the 90’s. Her one woman show, Mad as Molly, has toured between Brisbane and Melbourne, as has her curated-conversational performance,Spark. Eloise is Artistic Director of Cradle Productions [sick theatre for sick people] and aims to create theatre in unconventional spaces – whether this be physically, ideologically or philosophically. Eloise recently completed an internship with Playlab, where she was lucky enough to partake in a series of playwriting Masterclasses. Previous to this, her playwriting has seen her scripts shortlisted in festivals, sponsored for a playreading by Alliance Francaise de Melbourne and most frequently, writing in her courtyard at night. Eloise has designs to create theatre in a Brisbane alleyway in 2012 and will be using her improved skills as a playwright to make this happen. The poor know how to pick themselves up, but they will beat you in a fall.

Laura Hopkinson is a Sydney based writer, performer, director, moss collector and aspiring puppeteer. She is most interested in making Site-specific and Installation performances where audiences smell things, eat things and get grubby. Her short works have been featured in short festivals at Griffin and MKA. Bumblebee, a play which she co-wrote and directed, was awarded best play at the 2009 Fast and Fresh Festival, bringing the play to Short and Sweet the following year. In 2010 she was selected for Sydney Theatre Company’s Young Playwrights’ Residency and was also awarded a mentorship at Playwrighting Australia as a co-winner of the Kicking Down The Door competition. She also finished her HSC. Laura has also been a Literary Intern at Griffin Theatre Company and a member of Youth panels at Sydney Theatre Company, ATYP and Griffin. This year she was lucky enough to train with the Neo-futurists and the SITI Company in between plundering the States the Europe and the India on her Gap year. Favourite food discovered: Profiterole Ice cream. She is now home and loving Sydney’s toothsome tap water.

Jessie Tu is a is newly graduated music teacher who hails from Sydney and enjoys writing for the stage and immerses herself in the city’s brilliant theatre scene. Since senior high, she has been a keen supporter of local independent theatre, and was involved in student productions both as a assistant producer and writer at university. Juggling a busy job as a music teacher, she now balances her load with writing and seeing as many plays she can on a weekend not devoted to marking scores and composing school reports. Jessie’s main interests lie in the creative capacities that arise between the spoken word on the page created by the playwright and the relationships that are constructed between the actors and audience memberd. Her favourite playwrights are Ibsen, Shaw… or…in fact: anyone from the 19th century.

Caleb Lewis is a multi-award-winning playwright, produced locally and overseas. He has twice been shortlisted for the Griffin Award and is the winner of an Inscription Award, the Mitch Mathews Award and an AWGIE (Australian Writer’s Guild Award). His plays include Nailed; Dogfall; Crystal; The Sea Bride;Songs for the Deaf; Men, Love & the Monkeyboy; Death in Bowengabbie; Rust and Bone; Aleksander and the Robot Maid and Clinchfield. Other entertainments include From the Outside Looking In and Across a Crowded Room. Current projects include commissions for Bell Shakespeare, Onward Productions, State Theatre Company South Australia and SBS Television. In 2011 Rust and Bone was one of four new plays showcased at the Australian National Play Festival. Lewis is also the inaugural winner of the Richard Burton New Play Award, for his play, Clinchfield.

Ross Mueller In 2002 Ross Mueller was selected as the Australian playwright for the International Residency of the Royal Court Theatre in London. He won the Wal Cherry Play of the Year (2006) for The Glory, was nominated in 2008 for Best Play in the Green Room Awards for two separate works and won the 2009 New York New Dramatists Playwright exchange for his play Concussion. In March 2011, his most recent work,Zebra, starring Bryan Brown and Colin Friels and directed by Fresh Ink mentor Lee Lewis, premiered at the Sydney Theatre Company. Ross has been shortlisted for the Patrick White Award three times. He has been an affiliate of the Melbourne Theatre Company, was a founding member of Melbourne Dramatists and has been commissioned by Melbourne Theatre Company, Playbox, Canberra Youth Theatre, Hothouse and ABC Radio National. His plays are published by Currency Press, Full Dress Productions and Playlab. Ross is currently Artistic Director of the Courthouse Arts

Peta Murray writes plays and short stories. She is also a dramaturg, director and has taught playwriting at Melbourne University and RMIT. She is currently co-facilitator of The Black Writers Lab for Ilbijerri Theatre, Melbourne. Peta’s best-known play,Wallflowering, has seen numerous productions in Australia and overseas. Other plays include AWGIE winners Spitting Chips and The Keys to the Animal Room, as well as Salt, which won the Victorian Premier’s Award for Drama. In 2003 Peta was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to Society and Literature, and in 2004 an Australia Council grant took her to the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for a six-month residency. In 2006 she wrote Room for Playworks and the Melbourne Writers’ Festival. In 2010 two ‘micro-plays’ featured in Finucane & Smith’s The Carnival of Mysteries at the Melbourne International Arts Festival Peta’s stories have been published in anthologies, including Sleepers Almanac and New Australian Stories. Three of her plays are published by Currency Press. She is now completing a new work for theatre entitled: Things That Fall Over: an (anti-)musical of a novel inside a reading of a play with footnotes and oratorio-as-coda.