OUR COMMITTEE
Hugh Jones (President)
Hugh is a retired communications consultant and journalist. A Tasmanian by birth, he worked for News Corp until 2012, including time with The Times and Sunday Times in London, and the Herald Sun and The Weekly Times in Melbourne, of which he was editor for four years. He is author of the true WWI tale Two Good Soldiers, One Great War (FortySouth), and has edited several newspaper anthologies, including The Bible of the Bush to mark the first 125 years of The Weekly Times.
Chris Ringrose (Secretary)
After an academic career in universities in Canada and the UK, Chris moved to Melbourne in 2012 and became a Research Associate in English Literature at Monash University. His poetry has won prizes in the UK, Canada and Australia, and his latest collection is Palmistry (OCoE Press). His most recent book is Creative Lives: Interviews with Eighteen South Asian Writers (Columbia University Press). He joined the Festival Committee in 2014 hoping to support events in literature, which has always been his passion. Over the past eleven years he has loved being involved with the writing talent and enthusiastic readers of the Western Suburbs. His poetry website is www.cringrose.com
c.ringrose@willylitfest.org.au
Emily Westmoreland (Program Director)
Emily Westmoreland is the Program Director of Willy Lit Fest. She runs Dinner Party Press and helped establish the Desperate Literature Prize for Short Fiction. In 2023 she won Penguin Random House Young Bookseller of the Year.
e.westmoreland@willylitfest.org.au
Elise Brocklehurst
Eager to be involved in Melbourne’s literary scene, Elise has been involved with Willy Lit Fest since 2022, has worked as a bookseller, and facilitates one of the largest in-person book clubs in the city.
e.brocklehurst@willylitfest.org.au
Rebecca Milne
Rebecca is co-owner of Williamstown’s much loved bookshop Book and Paper. Book and Paper is the official book seller for the Willy Lit Fest and has been associated with the festival for more than 12 years. Rebecca has an extensive knowledge of books and authors having worked in the industry for many years. Her work in the bookshop provides a connection with readers from all over the west.
Anna Rodway
Anna is a writer, theatre-maker and researcher. She holds a Master of English Studies, examining youth and ageing in the interwar novels of Australian writer Eleanor Dark. She is the recipient of the 2024 Abbie Clancy Award and is currently completing her PhD, supported by a University of Sydney Postgraduate Award. Anna has written, toured and produced five acclaimed works with her theatre company Three Birds. She is thrilled to help celebrate Williamstown’s literary magic.
Kay Souter
Kay was a lecturer in English for twenty-five years at RMIT and La Trobe universities, before moving into Teaching and Learning at Deakin and ACU universities for the last 5 years of her academic career. She retired to life as a farmer, working as a viticulturalist on her family’s small vineyard in northeast Victoria. On moving back to Melbourne, she has felt privileged to become a part of the vibrant literary life and wonderful seascapes of Williamstown.
Pam Davison
Pam is a multi-media artist who has achieved recognition (and a number of awards) for her short stories, playwriting and poetry. Since 2009 she has concentrated primarily on photography. Her art has evolved through a series of major exhibitions into a practice that combines photography, prose, found objects and fashion in the service of an exploration of the impact of families, memories and the natural world. She brings to the Committee a love of language and a strong visual sense. Pam lives in Williamstown with her husband and a greyhound.
Lis Grove (Vice-President)
Lis is a long-term Williamstown resident and supporter of the Literary Festival from its inception. Her love of language and literature is reflected in a professional career, which has ranged from English and literature teaching at Monash and Melbourne Universities and secondary schools, to teaching English as a second language to migrants and international students, to research into second-language learning and assessment at Melbourne University. She has also worked as a consultant in second-language assessment, professional writing and editing.
Brian Christopher (Treasurer)
As a chartered accountant Brian has had many years of commercial experience. He lives in Williamstown and is also the Treasurer of the Williamstown Little Theatre. When not engaged in “bean counting” Brian can often be found building sets and from time to time “treading the boards”, which he finds a refreshing antidote against anything relating to financial management. One of Brian’s long-term literary ambitions is to finish reading Ulysses, and wonders whether there is a self-help group that can provide support!
b.christopher@willylitfest.org.au
Sandy Cull
Sandy is a Williamstown local who has been designing books for Australian authors for thirty years. She spent 12 of those in-house at Penguin Books, and has been freelance since 2006. In 2011 she was inducted into the Australian Publishers Association Book Design Hall of Fame for her contribution to the Australian publishing industry. She has been a guest speaker, judge and panellist at several literary festivals and a committee member for The Footpath Library. In 2014 Sandy was a founding committee member of the Australian Book Designers’ Association. She continues to design for many Australian publishers and self-publishers from her front room in WIlliamstown.
Helen Jarvis
Helen lives in Williamstown and teaches English in a western suburbs high school. She studied Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT and her writing has won awards, including the Ada Cambridge prizes for poetry and biographical non-fiction. Her first poetry book, ‘The Kindness of Water’, was published in 2025 with 5 Islands Press. Helen particularly enjoys working with the writing awards sub-committee; the Literary Festival has been a regular source of reading inspiration and a way to connect with others who share her love of good writing.
Michael Lee
Michael is a lecturer in the sociology of tourism, hospitality, and events. Having investigated the nature of authenticity in literary experiences among visitors for almost a decade, Michael often observes the critical tension between the imagined sense of place that readers have with the destinations that they seek to comprehend. His lectures in Festival and Special Events Planning offer insight into how the public showcasing of narratives might therefore be staged. He has been involved with the WLF since 2017.
m.anthonylee@willylitfest.org.au
Vicki Milliken
Vicki’s corporate career spanned 34 years, anchored in operations, across blue chip companies as diverse as oil and gas, facilities, education and beer. In 2019, she changed careers. Now she’s a freelance writer (published in The Guardian) and author of two children’s and two historical romance books set in Williamstown. Vicki brings strong planning and delivery capability to the Williamstown Literary Festival Committee. A resident since 1994, she enjoys the history, water and open spaces that Williamstown provides.
v.milliken@willylitfest.org.au
Lucia Nardo
Dr Lucia Nardo writes fiction and non-fiction and has published a range of both forms. In addition to her fiction and non-fiction titles, her short works appear in anthologies, magazines, and online. Lucia taught Professional Writing and Editing in the vocational education sector, and conducts writing workshops in community settings.