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Chip Rolley - Artistic Director |
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Chip is an editor, literary project manager and freelance writer who has worked in Australia, the US and China. Conversant with current literary, social, cultural and political issues and debates and with an eclectic background including marketing, advertising and literary events management experience, he also has a strong background of activism for freedom of expression, particularly through his recent involvement with International Pen and Sydney PEN.
In his writing, Chip has covered a very wide range of subjects. He has a particular focus on literature and Chinese politics and culture. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Australian, Griffith Review, the Bulletin and Rolling Stone.
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Ben Strout - Executive Director |
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Ben was the Executive Director of Arts Funding at the Australia Council for the Arts for nine years. He headed the Books Alive staff for the first three campaigns and was a member of both the Contemporary Visual Arts and Craft Inquiry and the Cultural Ministers Council Small to Medium Performing Arts Examination. He was also a longstanding member of the Asialink Performance / Arts Management Committee and of the Playing Australia National Touring Committee.
Ben has a BA cum laude in History of Ideas from Williams College, Massachusetts. He studied theatre in Connecticut (USA) and worked as a performer with theatres in Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Connecticut and New Hampshire before arriving in Australia in 1982 to become the Artistic Director of Australia's Theatre of the Deaf, directing and writing productions for young audiences. He joined the Australia Council in 1987 and - except for 1990, when he was the Executive Director of the Australian Centre of the International Theatre Institute - held a number of senior roles at the Council over the ensuing 21 years.
Ben joined Sydney Writers' Festival in February 2009.
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Helen Johnstone - Development and Media Relations |
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Helen's previous role was as Senior Publicity Manager for HarperCollins Publishers in London where she worked with authors such as Tracy Chevalier, Lionel Shriver, Boris Johnson and Paulo Coelho. Helen worked in publicity for 10 years and in 2007 Helen was awarded a British Book Industry Award for the Publicity Campaign of the Year (The Dangerous Book for Boys).
Helen worked as Sydney Writers' Festival's Publicist for the 2009 and 2010 Festivals. She now manages the Festival's sponsor relationships and media partnerships as well as maintaining and building the Festival's donor base.
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Belinda Kelso - Development and Media Relations Assistant |
Belinda graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2009 with a Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies/Bachelor of Laws. For the next two years she worked in publicity at Hachette Australia, with a range of Australian and international authors. In the latter half of 2011 she spent time travelling before working in Business Affairs at Flying Bark Productions, Australia’s leading producer of children’s animated entertainment. She joined the Sydney Writers’ Festival in January 2012.
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Emily Mann - Administrator |
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Emily rejoins the Sydney Writers' Festival team in 2011 as administrator, having previously filled the role of administrative assistant in 2009. Emily began her career in television production at the Nine Network Australia before becoming a television captioner, providing subtitles for the Deaf and hearing-impaired. She holds a Bachelor in Creative Arts (Writing) from Wollongong University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Communications and a Masters in Writing (Research) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
A former board member and secretary of the New South Wales Writers' Centre, Emily has participated as a panellist and facilitator at various literary festivals as well as volunteering as an editor, manuscript judge and fiction contributor. Passionate about all things books, Emily now turns her attention to books of another kind: she is currently responsible for the Festival's accounts and administration, and coordinates the popular workshop program.
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Ainslie Lenehan - Marketing Coordinator |
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Ainslie joined the Festival in November 2011 after recent roles as PR/Marketing Manager for Sydney Winter Festival and Marketing Manager for Australian Openair Cinemas. She graduated from UTS with a degree in Leisure Management, majoring in Arts Marketing, and has over 10 years’ marketing experience across advertising, insurance, hospitality, arts and events. Ainslie is inspired by the opportunity to share literature, ideas and the achievements of writers both internationally and at home.
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Mike Smith - Operations Manager |
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Mike started working with Sydney Writers’ Festival in 2009 as Operations Coordinator and in September 2011 was appointed Operations Manager. Prior to this, Mike worked as Operations Manager for events such as Australian Openair Cinemas (Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne), Underbelly Arts Festival, the National Small Business Summit and the TAFE 120 year celebration.
In theatre, Mike has production managed several tours across Australia and Europe. He produced the Australian premiere of Cherry Smoke by New York writer James McManus in 2009, presented simultaneously with an off-Broadway production. In lighting, Mike has worked on theatre productions such as Billy Elliot, Mirror Mirror (Holland), and the film Wolverine. Mike has a Bachelor of Arts in Production.
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Sophie Hoult - Assistant Program Coordinator |
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Sophie has worked in the literature sector for the last five years. She previously worked for English PEN, the founding centre of the international writers' organisation, where she managed the Writers in Translation program, dedicated to supporting and promoting literary translation in the UK. Prior to that, she worked for David Godwin Associates, a London-based literary agency representing an international list of authors including Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth, Aravind Adiga, William Dalrymple and Claire Tomalin.
Sophie joined Sydney Writers' Festival as Assistant Program Coordinator in January 2011.
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For all media inquiries please contact Helen Johnstone.
Phone 02 9252 7729
Email
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