Meet the Driving Forces Behind the 2025 Regional Writers Rise Festival
Discover the passionate individuals who make the Regional Writers Rise Festival a highlight of our cultural calendar. Our festival thrives thanks to the collective efforts of our Federation University Professional and Creative Writing Internship Program interns and mentors, and our festival supporters, with each bringing unique skills and enthusiasm to our storytelling communities.
Our Interns
Our interns are at the heart of festival operations, infusing every task with creativity and fresh perspectives. From managing events to engaging communities online, they are instrumental in bringing innovative ideas to life. Their relentless energy and dedication ensure that the festival remains a dynamic space for diverse storytelling.
Ella Hetherington
She/Her
Ella is a recent graduate of Federation University’s Bachelor of Arts program where she majored in Media and Screen studies. Her studies focused on critically analysing both screen and written texts. She is passionate about supporting regional and otherwise unheard voices in the local literary community. Ella is excited to be joining the team this year as an intern.
Illyana Baraci
She/Her
Illyana wanted to be a part of the festival as she feels there is a strong need for a writers’ community and a space for authors to both share their work, make connections with fellow writers, and start to create a community around their art form. She has always been fascinated seeing how communities can help support writers throughout her life, having seen many of her friends publish books through their connections. This is something she is eager to help cultivate by contributing to the festival.
Torrens Kennedy
She/Her
Torrens is a second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Federation University, double majoring in History and Digital Humanities. She is eager to be a part of the Regional Writers Rise Festival and looks forward to expanding her knowledge while contributing to the writing community. Torrens dabbles in creative writing and hopes to be published in the future. She is excited to learn new skills and help provide a safe space for people to share their writing. She is also the proud owner of two beautiful budgies and a happy husky.
Jennifer Little
She/Her
From Traralgon, Victoria, Jennifer is in her third year of a Bachelor of Arts at Federation University, majoring in Literature. She is excited to be participating in the Regional Writers Rise Festival, recognising the valuable contribution she can make to her community and the professional literary experience she will gain. As a neurodiverse woman, diagnosed later in life, Jennifer is keen to engage with and amplify the work of people within the disabled community. She is a passionate reader with a very long TBR (to be read) list, loves her cats and spending rainy days with a good book.
Maxwell Ashton
He/Him
Maxwell recently graduated Federation University’s Bachelor of Information Technology degree at Ballarat’s Mt. Helen Campus. Maxwell has involved himself in his own personal writing in the high fantasy, grim-dark space and seeks to be published one day. He loves being involved in creative opportunities and is excited to participate in giving others a platform to express their passion and perspective. Maxwell plans to use his technical knowledge in any way that will promote better access and communication across the event.
Penny Clarke
She/Her
Penny is a second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Federation University, majoring in history, and volunteers at Gippsland and Regional Studies Collections on campus by organising the historical collection. She has always had a passion for writing, both academically and creatively. Penny is passionate about supporting lesser heard voices in the space of writing and elevating writers as they discuss their life through their works. She is also an avid reader and has a co-dependency with the beetle from Metamorphosis.
Our Mentors
Our mentors are key to the festival’s success, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience. They provide essential guidance and insights, helping to steer the festival’s direction and ensure its success. By supporting emerging talents, they create an environment where new writers can develop their skills under the guidance of seasoned professionals. Their involvement is crucial in helping each participant grow and thrive in our regional storytelling communities.
Threasa Meads
They/Them, She/Her
Threasa is queer, neurodivergent, and non-binary, and their professional and personal life weave through roles as a writer, artist, academic/educator, wife, and mother of cats. She lectures in creative writing at Federation University in Gippsland, Victoria, and coordinates the Regional Writers Rise festival. Their published works include two liminal autobiographies, Nobody and Mothsong (Rare Bird Books, USA), with Nobody being shortlisted for The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award in 2008 and receiving a Varuna Fellowship in 2009. Recently, in 2022, one of her unpublished manuscripts was shortlisted for Viva la Novella X. Their shorter hybrid works have appeared in international journals such as Cordite, TEXT, and others. Additionally, she mentors emerging writers, helping them engage meaningfully with their communities, and empowering them to develop the skills necessary to ensure their unique voices are heard.
For more about Threasa, visit threasameads.com.
Adelaide Sabre
She/Her
Adelaide is a creative writing PhD student and sessional tutor for the Bachelor of Arts at the Federation University Australia Gippsland campus. Her PhD focuses on hybrid genres such as speculative biography, AI technology and ethics, nonconformity, and how these topics intersect and interact with society. She has a journal article currently in review for Life Writing journal’s special issue ‘Birth and Death: Writing on the Edges of Life’, has twice been published by Paper Road Magazine, and now fulfils an editor position with the Paper Road team. Adelaide’s passion for supporting emerging writers and diverse and interesting ways of telling and crafting stories motivated her to join the Regional Writers Rise Festival and get involved with her writing local community.
Fleur Gabriel
She/Her
Fleur Gabriel is a lecturer in the Bachelor of Arts degree at Federation University Australia, Gippsland Campus. Teaching and publishing in the area of media and cultural studies, Fleur loves helping students to question and explore their cultural and media environments and understand how identities and societies are shaped and expressed through various forms of representation. Fleur is the author of Deconstructing Youth (Palgrave) and has been published in Media International Australia. Fleur is excited to be co-ordinating the internship program in 2025, helping to support the professional skill development of the student interns as they work to bring the Regional Writers Rise Festival to life.
Blythe Plier
She/Her
Blythe, a regional Victorian writer based in Ballarat, is an undergraduate student at Federation University, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts with a focus on writing and literature. Blythe was thrilled to publish her first story last year with Paper Road Magazine. She is enthusiastic about participating in the Regional Writers Rise Festival as a mentor after interning for the festival last year. Blending her love for creative writing with a blossoming comfort in leadership roles gained from being a part of the RWR community and internship team, Blythe has found herself on a path of teaching English as a second language. She hopes to merge creativity and logic to make English language learning more engaging for new and intermediate learners.
Jordyn Presley
She/Her
Jordyn, a regional Gippsland writer in the final stages of her creative writing PhD at Federation University, has a passion for disability advocacy and ethical representations of incurable illnesses and invisible disabilities. She has been published in Kill Your Darlings and Tulpa Magazine. Jordyn is passionate about creating space for emerging artists and regional Victorian voices and works as an enabling educator at Federation University and managing editor at Paper Road Magazine. Her enthusiasm for inclusivity and education is the driving force for her participation in the Regional Writers Rise Festival. Jordyn aims to nurture the confidence of both readers and writers, all while encouraging them to dream big.
Stefanie Gold
She/Her
Stefanie, a creative writer and editor living on Wadawurrung country, Victoria, has contributed to Kill Your Darlings and was one of the founders of Paper Road Magazine, which supports emerging regional Australian writers. With a BA in creative writing and a First Class Honours degree from Federation University, she is currently pursuing a PhD in creative writing focused on life writing, also at Federation University. Her work, deeply influenced by her personal experiences which include living with a rare genetic skin condition known as Epidermolysis Bullosa Weber Cockayne Simplex and a commitment to social justice, aims to articulate the lived realities of those with unique conditions and to confront social stigmas surrounding gendered violence. Stefanie is dedicated to amplifying marginalised voices and fostering social change through her writing.
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