Meet Our Team
Maria McDougall - President & Centenary Planning Coordinator

Maria McDougall has written numerous educational programs, reports and procedures along with plays, skits and jingles for children’s performance items on the school stage. For many years she taught in…
Christine Sykes - Vice-President

Christine Sykes has three published books.  The Changing Room won the The Society of Women Writers NSW 2020 fiction award.   Her debut novel, The Changing Room, was based…
Liz Newton - Vice-President

Liz Newton lives in Sydney with her husband and dog. Her extensive travelling including road trips across continents, sailing adventures and family holidays provides inspiration for writing.  Liz has…

Amanda Mark - Treasurer

Amanda is an aspiring writer with a background in financial markets. She is passionate about life, travel, food, women in business, sports, Olympics, rugby and equal rights for all…
Anne Power - Secretary

Anne Power is Adjunct Professor in Music Education at Western Sydney University, member of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Research in Music Education, Deputy Chair ASME NSW and…
Carmel Bendon - Membership Secretary

Carmel is a prize-winning author, academic and presenter on ‘all things medieval’. She has a PhD in Medieval Literature and a 1st Class Honours degree in Early English, and her…

Rita Shaw - Website Administrator

Rita Shaw retired in 2009 after many years as a Bid Manager, writer, editor and proof reader in Sydney’s corporate arena, after starting her career at the University of NSW…
Pippa Kay - Workshop Coordinator

Pippa Kay has written three books. The most recent, Keeping it in the Family, published by Ginninderra Press, won the Society of Women Writers Fiction Award in 2018.   Pippa has…
Julie Thorndyke - Committee Member

A graduate of the University of Sydney Master of Creative Writing program, Sydney writer Julie Thorndyke’s two collections of tanka poetry, Rick Rack and Carving Granite, were published by Ginninderra…

Pip Griffin - Committee Member

Pip trained as a primary school teacher. In a long career, she taught in New Zealand and Australian schools, worked in a library and as a potter, and created and…
Teresa Petersen - Committee Member

I have a BA(hons)PhD in English Literature. During the course of my studies, I covered Early Medieval to Twentieth Century Literature. My study included Literary Theory and Uses of Language.…