Associate Professor Maggie Nolan joined AustLit as Director in July 2023. She is an Associate Professor in Digital Cultural Heritage in the School of Communication and Arts and the recently appointed Director of AustLit. Maggie's research is in the broad field of Australian Literary Cultures, specifically Irishness in Australian literature; contemporary Indigenous literatures; hoaxes, imposture and mistaken identity in Australian literary culture; reading, reception and book clubs; and digital literary studies.
Maggie values interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to humanities research.
Catriona Mills began work at AustLit in 2010, and is currently the Content Manager. She holds degrees from Macquarie University and The University of Queensland, including a PhD on the writing career of Australian-trained nineteenth-century actor Eliza Winstanley.
She has published on adaptations of penny weekly serials to the suburban stage, authorship attribution in nineteenth-century periodicals, steampunk, and Doctor Who, and has led AustLit research projects on steampunk and early Australian television.
Melanie Saward is a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman. She is a lecturer of Australian Studies in the School of Communication and Arts and has recently (July 2024) been appointed as the coordinator of BlackWords. Her research looks at Indigeneity in romantic comedy fiction with a focus on diversity, intersectionality, and the Australian publishing industry.
Melanie is a writer and editor. Her debut fiction book, Burn, was published in 2023 with Affirm press and her first romantic comedy novel, Love Unleashed, will be published in August 2024.
Brendan Jeon has been a developer for AustLit and Cirrus which is Learning and Teaching platform provided by AustLit since 2016.
He loves reading books, and watching clips about scientists' biographies as well as science history. Brendan has also published some computer programming books.
Joanne Sawyers completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Studies at The University of Queensland in 2002. After completing a Certificate in Workplace Assessment and Training she taught Computer Studies at the Bremer Institute of TAFE.
After a short period working as a volunteer guide at the Ipswich Art Gallery, she took up a position as a Research Assistant for Dr Toni Johnson-Woods, working on her ARC funded pulp fiction project. During this time, she also lectured and tutored Media Studies at The University of Queensland Ipswich campus.
In 2009, she joined the AustLit team and is now the organisation’s senior researcher and indexer.
Joanne's favourite authors include Michael Robotham, Candice Fox, Adrian McKinty, and Dervla McTiernan.
Dr Amy Schoonens is Senior Research Assistant on a project to develop cross-curriculum learning environments. This project was funded by the AuDA Foundation, and commenced in February 2024.
Amy has collaborated with AustLit since 2008: initially as a Project Manager on three large-scale children's literature projects, then as research assistant at AustLit, UQ, from 2018-2020. Amy's roles included subscription management, research, indexing, project assistance and content development.
Her research interests include children's and young adult literature, genre fiction, contemporary book culture and social media. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts (UQ), Grad Dip. in Library and Information Management (CSU) and a Master of Arts, Children's Literature (MQ). Her PhD, titled 'The Digital Media Ecologies of Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Participatory Cultures for Teen Readers, was completed at the Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2024. Amy was offered an ARC Discovery Scholarship to undertake this research.
She has previously worked as a Researcher and Librarian.
Bianca’s role with AustLit began in 2020, initially as Engagement and Subscriptions Officer (part-time, 2020-21), then as Research and Engagement Assistant, from 2023 to present. Bianca’s current role involves the curation of AustLit’s newsletter, research and grant writing, project assistance and other outreach initiatives. Previously she has been involved with content development for AustLit’s projects, including Liminal Spaces, Solitary Places: Lighthouses in Australian Literature. Bianca holds a Master of Professional Writing and Bachelor of Creative Writing (UniSC), and is currently completing her PhD at UQ’s School of Communication and Arts. Bianca’s research interests include creative nonfiction, narrative medicine, and science writing. Her thesis ‘Cognitive conversations on the cutting edge of creativity and neuroscience’ explores how we can communicate about functional neurological disorders using creative nonfiction and narrative medicine techniques.
Jonathan is a web developer with The University of Queensland's Digital Humanities and Social Sciences initiative run through UQ's Research Computing Centre. He has been a developer for AustLit for over ten years.
He writes poetry and short fiction and is a lover of Celtic folk music, occasionally attempting to play the Irish flute and tin whistle.
Professor Anita Heiss is a proud Wiradyuri woman, but born in Gadigal country. She spent much of her life on Dharawal land near La Perouse before moving to Magandjin / Meanjin. Anita is an award-winning prolific writer and editor of non-fiction, children's novels, historical fiction, and commercial fiction.
Anita is a strong advocate for Indigenous literacy, and a Lifetime Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Her support and leadership of BlackWords began at its foundation in 2007, and she regularly advocates for BlackWords through educational and academic events.
In 2019, Anita was appointed Professor of Communications at The University of Queensland, and divides her time between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies (ATSIS) Unit, and The School of Communication and Arts.
| Name | Affiliated Organisation/Institution |
|---|---|
| Katherine Bode |
Professor of Literary and Textual Studies, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University |
| Stephen Carleton |
Playwright, Associate Professor, Drama School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland |
| Simon Farley |
Bibliographer and Fryer Librarian The University of Queensland |
| Anita Heiss, AM |
Writer and Professor of Communications Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Indigenous Engagement) The University of Queensland |
| Sarah Holland-Batt |
Poet and Professor, Creative Writing Queensland University of Technology |
| Anna Johnston |
Professor of Literature, School of Communication and Arts, The University of Queensland President, International Australian Studies Association (InASA) |
| Claire Jones |
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Western Australia English Teachers Association of Western Australian (ETAWA) |
| Susan Lever, OAM |
Honorary Associate The University of Sydney ASAL Vets |
| Kate McLay |
Lecturer, English School of Education The University of Queensland |
| Roger Osborne |
Associate Professor James Cook University President, Association for the Study of Australian Literature (ASAL) |
| Melanie Saward |
Writer and Lecturer in Australian Studies BlackWords Coordinator School of Communication and Arts The University of Queensland |
| Aviva Tuffield |
Publisher University of Queensland Press (UQP) |
| Julienne van Loon |
Writer and Associate Professor in Creative Writing School of Culture and Communication Melbourne University |
| Margaret Warren |
Director of Digital Delivery State Library of Queensland |
| Millicent Weber |
ARC DECRA Fellow School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics Australian National University |
| Phoebe Weston-Evans |
Senior Research Coordinator Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) |
| Jessica White |
Writer and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Creative Writing and Literature UniSA |
| Kim Wilkins |
Writer and Professor of Writing, Publishing and Book Culture, School of Communication and Arts The University of Queensland Deputy Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences |
| Daozhi Xu |
ARC DECRA Fellow Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature Macquarie University International Australian Studies Association (InASA) |
AustLit’s Stakeholder Advisory Group is relatively informal group. There will be no executive on this group (that is, secretary, treasurer, etc.). The meetings will be chaired by the AustLit Director, with minutes taken by the Content Manager.
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