Writers SA is the state’s peak organisation for writing and literature, putting South Australian writers at the forefront of national literary culture. We support writers to forge connections, take vital opportunities and access industry pathways. We champion South Australian writing and create spaces where readers can connect with writers.
We deliver across three main pillars of work
Public Program – connects readers and writers, as well as encouraging community writing from teens up.
Writers Path – professional development services, information and workshops, as part of the National Network of State Writing Centres. Focus of our work with members.
Publication – producing Splinter journal along with one-off publications and publishing partnerships. Pathways to Publishing activities, advice and resources.
Established in 1985, Writers SA was the first writers’ centre in Australia, and continues to showcase and promote the state’s writers, placing them at the heart of Australian literary life. A resource for writers of all ages and experiences, we help both emerging and established writers on every aspect of writing craft, navigating working as a writer and publishing. A state-based organisation, we collaborate with interstate and international partners, and we are committed to advocating on behalf of all writers in Australia.
Writers SA could not operate without the generous support of Create SA.
The State Library of South Australia is a key partner and our home base.
Writers SA is located on Kaurna land. We acknowledge Kaurna people as the original storytellers of this place, who have led a culture of storytelling for many thousands of years. We pay our respects to Kaurna elders past and present, and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on whose lands we live, work and create. This always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
Meet the Team
CLAIRE HICKS
CEO
Claire has worked with artists, artform and audience development for over 30 years. In Australia since 2015 Claire was Director of Critical Path (choreographic research and development organisation) and Senior Curator Performance/Executive Producer at Carriageworks. As an independent producer and curator work has included dramaturgy, discourse & writing projects.
KATHERINE WOEHLERT
Operations Manager
Katherine Woehlert is a storyteller, lifelong reader, and arts advocate. Drawn to the spaces where creativity and community meet, she has built a career championing writers and the written word. Katherine spent nearly three decades at the much-loved Imprints Booksellers, including 17 years as co-owner, helping to shape one of the city’s favourite literary haunts.
VERN SCHULZ
Finance Officer
Vern has a diverse background and broad experience in all facets of office and finance management. Starting out in the graphic arts industry he then transitioned to working in website design and publication and subsequently into Office Management, Legal Administration, and then Payroll Administration. He currently works across a number of small enterprises including The Mill, Adelaide.
BERNADETTE EDEN
Writers Path Coordinator
Bernadette Eden is an award-winning author, creative professional, and event organiser with a passion for storytelling and community building. Dedicated to supporting Australian authors, Bernadette loves to connect with readers and writers and hear about stories that inspire and excite. When not writing, Bernadette resides and relaxes in the Adelaide Hills with her husband, three children and a dog who thinks he is human.
FARRIN FOSTER
Splinter Editor
Farrin Foster is an editor, writer, and occasional film-maker. She is currently the founding editor of Splinter literary journal, and was previously the editor of independent masthead CityMag. Farrin has worked extensively as a journalist and a freelance writer and has published with titles like the Guardian, Kill Your Darlings, and The Big Issue.
Meet the Board
Nick Hays
Chair
Nick Hays is the Executive Director of Australian Dance Theatre, the nation’s oldest contemporary dance company founded on Kaurna Country in 1965. Nick has worked in Australia’s cultural sector for nearly 20 years, most recently at The Australian Ballet in Melbourne as a senior member of its Philanthropy team, as well as at Arts Centre Melbourne and Heide Museum of Modern Art. He has also been Chair of Melbourne-based independent theatre company, Rawcus, a board member of the Public Galleries Association of Victoria and Deputy Chair of Dancehouse Melbourne, one of the pre-eminent centres for contemporary dance practice and research in Australia. Nick is also currently on the Board of Project Animo, an initiative of The Australian Ballet’s Resident Choreographer Alice Topp and acclaimed designer Jon Buswell, founded to bring together a collective of independent artistic voices and talent from across Australia’s dance landscape.
Craig Phillips
Board Member
Craig Phillips is a highly experience banking and finance professional, working in senior roles in major banking organisations for 35 years. For the last four years now, he has operated his own independent debt advisory business, Glengyle Finance which specialises in providing expert advice to business for their commercial debt arrangements. Craig has an MBA in Corporate Treasury & Finance and more recently completed the Company Directors’ Course with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).
Craig is an avid reader, currently in US politics; recently completing at least one biography of every US President.
Rachel Spencer
Board Member
Rachel Spencer recently embarked on a freelance writing and consulting career. She is a lawyer, a writer, a scholar and a teacher, who has driven her professional life down many roads; winding between legal practice, tertiary education, public speaking, creative writing, research, professional writing, teaching and management. Rachel has worked in private legal practice, in the commercial radio industry, the wine industry and the community legal sector. She also has extensive experience on the boards and committees of a variety of not-for-profit organisations. Along the way she has taught conversational English to French secondary school students and English literature to university students. Rachel been a legal academic (involving teaching, research and high-level administration) at three universities.
Rachel has published six book chapters, about fifteen articles, and one book. She holds a Masters and a PhD in Creative Writing. Her current writing project is a book that straddles the genres of true crime and life-writing. Rachel recently resigned from her role as an Associate Professor of Law and the Director of a community legal centre at Monash University in Melbourne so she can focus on getting her book published.
David Meldrum
Board Member
Part-owner of Mostly Books, David is a published author, and is currently working on his fourth novel. He is a director on the board of several mental health related organisations, and volunteers as a Community Visitor. He also helps select books for customers of the Home Library service at Unley.
Truphena Mahindu
Board Member
Truphena has completed several creative writing courses at the Australian Writers Centre, focusing mainly on writing for children and young adults. She is an aspiring middle grade fiction author.
Currently, also a member of the board for the Department of Education’s Multicultural Education and Languages Committee and Glenunga International High School.
Truphena was born and raised in Kenya but has lived and worked in Australia for two decades. She’s an economist by profession, having previously worked in that role on ICRISAT and GTZ projects in Eastern and Southern Africa, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia and BDO-Adelaide. Truphena is also actively involved in community service and leadership, for which she’s a recipient of a ministerial and a diplomatic award.
She hopes to work with Writers SA board members to help support South Australian writers to reach their fullest potential.
Rowena Vnuk
Board Member
Rowena runs Blueglass Triangles Pty Ltd, drawing on her diverse career experiences having lived, worked and studied in four Australian states before settling in Adelaide, South Australia in 2007. She’s navigated a career as a state public servant, sole trader, business volunteer for several NFP organisations, and as a university researcher.
In 2021, Rowena completed her PhD, researching relationships between competitiveness, comparative advantage and intermediary functions within a dynamic industry sector, providing material for a book chapter for Springer Nature’s Sustainable Development Goals (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) series and other academic articles.
In 2025, in Writers SA’s journal Splinter (2nd edition), Rowena writes about keeping one step ahead as a hearing-impaired person during COVID -19. She’s now writing her memoirs.
Annie Waters
Board Member
Annie Waters has been getting in trouble from an early age for reading in the dark. She is much better at controlling herself these days, but is still sometimes known for reading past sundown. Since 2017, she has managed Mostly Books in Mitcham, SA, and bought into the business in 2021.
Annie has worked with Adelaide Writers’ Week, was Co-Director of the National Young Writers’ Festival, regularly contributes to a bookish podcast, Books on the Go and writes reviews for Books+Publishing.
Our Values
Excitement
We are inspired by language and storytelling
We foster a thriving sector and community
We share our love for writing with audiences
Curiosity
We invent and experiment
We collaborate and make connections
We revel in innovative solutions
Impact
We are resilient, and good listeners
We prioritise difference, inclusivity and diversity
We make real change in communities and industry
Drive
We work towards imaginative possibilities
We learn, grow and improve
We strive to be the best organisation we can be.
Writers SA puts writing at the centre of life. Our mission is to create and sustain a community of writing and reading.
At Writers SA, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful, and supportive environment. We do not tolerate or support the creation, promotion, or dissemination of any works that negatively target individuals or groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or identity.
