Committee & Event Background

The Queenscliffe Literary Festival brings the best of established and emerging Australian literary talent to the Borough of Queenscliffe and the greater Bellarine community.

The Festival has become a recognised and anticipated cultural event on the local calendar.

The purpose is to curate a lively and intelligent season of events that stimulates discussion and to provide opportunities for engagement and participation.

The program aims to be inclusive, accessible, thought-provoking and diverse. It celebrates Australian literature across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, music and art delivering an exciting and diverse range of authors, artists, musicians and artisans to the Borough of Queenscliffe and the wider community.

Program Director

Elizabeth has worked as a radio producer and presenter for over 20 years, predominantly at Melbourne’s 3RRR, where she also anchored the flagship weekly books and writing show Multi-Storied. She served as a board member at 3RRR and has worked as a judge for Stella Prize and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. She hosts in-conversation literary events for The Wheeler Centre and Melbourne Writers Festival, and previously for Sydney Writers Festival, regional literary festivals, and local libraries. She is a regular book reviewer on ABC Radio Melbourne and is a live events producer for RMIT Culture.

President

Virginia has been a resident in Queenscliff for eight years and since her move to the Borough has actively participated on and volunteered for community organisations. She brings to the QLF expertise in professional strategic planning, policy development and governance, skills that she gained through decades of public service experience and community leadership.

Virginia served for nine years as board director for Barwon Health and in her professional career she worked as a senior manager in the Victorian Public Service for 26 years on community strengthening programs, youth services, partnership brokering across State, Commonwealth and Local governments for collaborative urban growth area planning, urban revitalisation in central Geelong and to deliver major infrastructure projects. She retired from her position as Manager of Geelong City Deal in 2023.

Virginia has a good understanding of local government, having been a Councillor and Mayor for the former City of Geelong West and Manager of Human Services at Moorabool Shire.

Vice-President and Grants

Lyn has been an on and off resident of Queenscliffe since 1973. She has worked in the social justice arena for the past four decades and has extensive experience in utilizing varying arts mediums to explore contemporary issues of concern to communities. She has also supported development of arts activity which builds inclusive and cohesive communities and engages a diverse range of people in creative activity and the exploration of new ideas.

Secretary

Erin Kelly is a project manager and writer from Ocean Grove. She grew up in Kornoo (Barwon Heads) and has recently returned to live in the area after many years living in Melbourne and internationally.

She has worked in digital and strategic project management, co-founded an all-female theatre company, directed and produced many theatre shows, and her writing has been published in various journals both nationally and internationally.

Treasurer

Zanette Phillips was involved in business management and then adult training where she has written digital literary and business courses for her website. Her background has been in office administration and business management for over 30 years covering over 20 different industries.

Cash flow control and cost management in addition to accounting, budgeting has been her strengths. Zanette’s first book Don’t Let Your Customers Run Your Business explains in a succinct way how to take control of the debtor’s ledger.

Zanette has lived in Queenscliff for three years and is pleased to be part of the Queenscliffe Literary Festival team.

Committee Member

Pauline Nunan is a former teacher and has been involved in international education as a university marketing and recruitment manager for many years with extensive experience as an events manager. She has long been an avid reader, a book club member and loves attending writers’ festivals and book events. Pauline is widely travelled and always enjoys reading novels about the places she visits as well as more conventional travel and culture books. Her reading interests vary widely from crime fiction to contemporary fiction, biographies, history and politics. Recently Pauline moved permanently to Queenscliff after being a regular visitor for 10 years. She is delighted to be living in such a vibrant and interesting community.

Committee Member

Jacinta has lived in Queenscliff for 30 years and has been strongly involved in the local community, was chair of Queenscliffe Neighbourhood House for ten years and as a volunteer and team leader for the Queenscliff Music Festival. She has a passion for early childhood and primary education and has worked as a teacher with a focus on encouraging participation in the Arts. She has also been a marine educator, and a presenter and producer of science and technology programs for the Education Department. Jacinta is enjoying being part of the Queenscliffe Literary Festival Committee and especially providing support for the local in-school days program.

Schools Program

Penned Micro-fiction Coordinator

Pip came to the QLF in 2019 to ‘help with a little bit of social media’ and her role has grown exponentially along with the Festival itself. In her past she had a long career in retail banking and then second long career in parenting, before gaining an Honours degree in Creative and Professional Writing. Pip lived in Belmont as a child and has loved bringing up her own kids in this area that has so much to offer. Pip has interned at the Canberra Writers Festival and worked with the Word for Word National Non-Fiction Festival and Local Word Writers Festival.

Acting Festival Manager

Kirsty Wilson has worked in the Australian book industry for 30 years, including as a bookseller, State Library touring officer, publicist, publicity manager and sales and marketing director. She was the sales and distribution manager at UQP for two years, and sales and marketing director at Text Publishing for nine years. Kirsty lives on Wadawurrung Country with her young family.