The 2008 National Young Writers' Festival takes place from October 2 - October 6 in Newcastle, NSW. It's our 10th anniversary - put it in your diaries now! >> read more

Amy grew up in the Barossa Valley in South Australia where she learned to appreciate the fine skill of boozing up. She then moved onto study acting at The University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba where needless to say she honed her skills. Since graduating she has done continuous work as a performer/ director and creator with Switchboard Arts out of the Judith Wright Centre in Brisbane. She has also worked with Backbone Youth Arts on projects such as the 2high Festival. As well as being one of the new directors for the NYWF, this will also be her first year in attending where she plans to display her hard found skills obtained in the Barossa Valley to her best ability.

Daniel Evans is a writer, listener, libertine and pop aficionado.

Partial to the fantastical and absurd, Daniel has written numerous works for the stage. His family’s favourite is the one about the talking avocado who wants to be magician. Daniel is mad keen about a) creating work with and for young people, b) bringing the stories of life’s Others to the fore, and c) collaboration.

To earn a crust he edits, teaches, designs and performs – sometimes all at once and often with no hands.

In 2008, he joins the National Young Writers Festival as co-director and could not be more stoked.

Originally a kiwi, Nic has spent the last four years making mischief in Melbourne. As well as co-directing the National Young Writers' Festival and writing for various Australian publications, he makes interventionist installation art for festivals around the country, runs a web/graphic design practice (DISLOCATED), is co-editor and designer of the Nomadology travel writing project and in his more lucid moments sits on the curatorial board of the Next Wave arts festival. He is also currently finishing his first novel as part of a Masters in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne.

link:
DISLOCATED

Born and bred in Wellington, NZ, Tom has been working and playing in Melbourne for the past six years – five more than planned. Tom edited
Voiceworks magazine (www.expressmedia.org.au/voiceworks.php) from 2004-2006, is responsible for a number of atrocious interpretive dance performances (don't mention the catfood!), and is currently doing research for a comedy show about David Hasselhoff and Adolf Hitler, as part of an MA (Creative Writing) at the University of Melbourne.

link:
Tom's Nomadology blog

Tom Keily has recently released an album reinterpreting the poetry of Rumi into a series of Australia-scented rhymes over beats and Persian instrumentation. Tom's MySpace.

link:
www.myspace.com/thomasjackofhearts

Brea is a singer and songwriter, composer of electro-acoustic works and music for theatre, musical theatre and voice installations. In 2007 she will have her spoken word/song composition, Quiet on the Bridge, released on contemporary music group re-sound's latest album. She is currently writing a deranged musical.

Bryony has recently completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the University of Sydney where she was president of the Sydney University Dramatic Society. Upon graduation she co-founded Bambina Borracha Productions, a production company dedicated to creating opportunities for emerging artists in the greater community. She recently produced their first production, Persephone's Wolf, which was performed in Sydney and Adelaide.

"Creativity is a natural extension of our enthusiasm". Growing up in the life of dance, celebration and creativity it was no surprise that 19 year old Cassie Burge loves living and breathing culture and festivals. Completing her second year in a Bachelor of Creative Industries majoring in Technical Production, Events and Festival Management and Marketing, Cassie has experienced working as Volunteer Coordinators Assistant on Out of the Box Festival at Queensland Performing Arts Festival as well as Production Coordinator on the funky 2High Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse and has loved working backstage on the Woodford folk festival and The dreaming Festival for the past 2 years, along side her many QUT production roles and a Night of Cabaret at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

Ella recently completed her Honours year in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. Her first book of poetry, 'Welcome/No Vacancy', was published in 2007 by Five Islands Press. When not working for NYWF Ella's hats include Events and Marketing Assistant at the Australian Poetry Centre, piano teacher, occasional nanny, and (currently) very occasional writer. She enjoys short walks on the beach, long and detailed lists, and helping to organise hoards of people into the messy and creative rabble we call NYWF. If you would like to volunteer at the festival this year please email Ella.

link:
ella@nywf.org.au

Elly was born in tent nearly 26 years ago, and some times wishes she could go back. Between then and now she has completed a theatre degree in Toowoomba, worked for an MP in Clayfield, managed a cafe in Brisbane and now resides Sydney where she works for a marketing and advertising comapny (yes, yes, politics to advertising, how do I lie straight in bed).

In her spare time Elly enjoys running a boarding house and scolding her cat Barry Cassidy.

Despite all these skills she can not successfully upload a picture to this website with out it being in the middle of a blank page (please send help!)... or spell.

New to the fold, Megan Darling has grasped the reins of artist logistics with both hands. With a working history of artist and tour coordination in the music industry, Megan is now studying Political Science for what feels like the rest of her natural born life.

She also likes a glass of red wine and long walks on the beach and particularly long walks on the beach with a glass of red wine.

Rebecca studied Performance Studies and English at The University of Sydney, where she is currently embarking on a Masters in Creative Writing. Having worked with PACT Theatre (NSW), Scatterbox Theatre (QLD), Izit Entertainment (QLD) and Troupe Dart (ACT) and trained with Vulcana, deBASE, Tony Kishawi, Zen Zen Zo and Marie Dumont, she has been an actor, roving street performer, stilt walker, Commedia dell'Arte zanni and theatre publicist.

As a writer she has been published by Lowdown, Muse, Artlook, dB, SCENE and The Brag magazines for her theatre articles and reviews and has had her work performed during the Canberra Multicultural Fringe Festival, the Canberra Fringe Festival and the ACT's monthly performance night A Bunch of Fives. In 2007 she co-wrote/-directed/-produced the play The Reunion with Daniel Evans, which performed to sell-out audiences at the Sue Benner Theatre, Brisbane. She's now creating her latest work for next year's Adelaide Fringe.

Sonya is a girl, writer and maker-of-things. She embraces all of the girl-writer clichés including consuming copious amounts of caffeine, oversized shirts, moleskin diaries and The Beatles and has written for The International Herald Tribune in Seoul, Dazed & Confused AUS/NZ, SydneySide magazine and currently edits the Arts section of Vibewire.net.

She’s also responsible for leaving matchboxes containing tiny presents around each week, as part of her Matchbox project, in the hope that an unsuspecting strangers will find and open them.

link:
The Matchbox project