Coaching & Mentoring at Sydney School of Arts & Humanities

Writing coaching & mentoring

Sydney School of Arts & Humanities offers coaching and mentoring to authors who are looking for help or guidance with their work. Writers of all levels of experience can reach a stage where outside perspective is beneficial.

We tailor our coaching to each individual, depending on their specific needs and skill level. Whether you need help formulating your ideas and developing your plot and characters, mastering the technical craft of writing, editing your draft or considering publication options, we can offer advice and support.

Please contact us for a free consultation by phone, where we can discuss your goals and issues, and you can decide in which aspect of writing we will assist you.

SSOA writing coaches

Christine Williams has broad experience in writing for publication across a number of genres in the fields of fiction and non-fiction. Her publication experience includes books as well as journalism, the essay, life story & short story. She has a special interest in memoir, relationships and identity in life-writing, having researched the life of the Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti, for her Doctorate of Creative Arts from the University of Technology, Sydney. She also holds a Master of Arts from the University of Sydney.

Sharon Dean is an author and a writing coach who has worked with SSOA for several years. The recipient of a Griffith University Chancellor’s Medal for a PhD in Creative Writing, she enjoys the diverse spectrum of Japanese literary genres. In 2009 she won the Haiku Dreaming Australia Award. Sharon appreciates working with people whose voices often go unheard. For four years she ran an award-winning digital storytelling program that empowered older Australians to share their stories. She frequently leads writing groups and coaches on a range of topics from story development to editing.

Lisa Creffield is a business writer and novelist. With a degree in English Literature & Language from the University of Oxford, her areas of expertise include both non-fiction and fiction. Lisa was shortlisted for the Celapene Press Charlotte Duncan Award 2013 and was one of the winners of the 2016 Sydney Latin Summer School Neo-Latin poetry translation prize. As well as leading writing groups at SSOA, Lisa is involved in coaching the technical side of writing, from self-publishing to social media marketing.

Major Works by Christine Williams

Since 2011	Currently writing and teaching memoir, she has carried out research on the life of India’s champion cricketer Sachin Tendulkar now available for sale on our Books page

2006	Green Power: Environmentalists who have changed the face of Australia, Lothian, Melbourne. Biographies of twenty people who have shaped the Australian environment movement

2004	Jiddu Krishnamurti: World Philosopher Revised Edition, 2013 ebook available on Amazon Books. Biography based on a Doctorate of Creative Arts thesis at the University of Technology, Sydney

1996	Fathers & Sons, Harper Collins, Sydney. Extended interviews with Australian men on intimacy and the father-son relationship

1989	Christina Stead: A Life of Letters, Virago, London & McPhee Gribble, Melbourne. The first full-length biography of this major Australian writer
Reviews of Christine’s work have appeared in a range of international, national and state news media and journals, including the Times Literary Supplement, The Listener, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Age, The Courier-Mail, The Canberra Times & Australian Book Review. All her manuscripts are held by the Manuscripts Section of the National Library of Australia.

Selected Creative Works by Sharon Dean

2016	Currently finalising two books for publication: Time Out of Mind, a novel that explores one man’s perception of time during post-traumatic amnesia (soon to be published by SSOA), and The Incredible Vanishing Banana Poet, the authorised biography of Australian haiku writer Janice M Bostok (under consideration with another publisher).

2015	Long Stories Short: An Interactive Life Stories Poster Book. Blurb, Australia.

2014	Reflections from the Deep End. A 40-minute documentary that provides a window into the wisdom, dreams and humour of five older Australians. Available at: https://vimeo.com/interactivelifestories

Sharon has also written numerous poems, short stories, academic papers and feature articles. These have appeared in a range of publications, including Island, Stylus Poetry Journal, World Haiku Review, Famous Reporter, Contemporary Haibun, Simply Haiku, and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Selected Work by Lisa Creffield

2016	Currently in the research stage for Blood on the Sea, a novel based in a fictionalised version of the Marshall Islands, depicting love, tragedy and violence. Also co-writing contemporary thriller The Disappearance with fellow SSOA member and crime author Peter Stankovic, an experimental collaborative novel based on the strange disappearance of a man in Sydney.

Since 2011	Leading business, finance and technology writer and copywriter, as well as working as a videographer.

2011	VJ Filming Guide Australia’s first practical guide for the basics of videojournalism, aimed at journalists required to retrain as multimedia/multiskilled reporters.

Over the past decade Lisa has also written several light fiction novels, several of which are self-published under pen names, as well as a translation of Vergil and several short stories and poems.

Contact Christine now to discuss how she can help you with your writing project

Call 0432 289 311 or 0407 290 229