We are thrilled to announce Melanie Bakewell as the recipient of the 2026 Writer in Residence.
The Writer in Residence program, in partnership with CityMag, supports emerging writers from a variety of disciplines. The program creates a broader audience for writing through leadership, mentorship and publication.
About the writer:
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I’m an emerging writer, audio producer and artist currently based on Kaurna land.
I write essays, creative non-fiction and reportage, and my writing has been published in Australian literary magazines including Overland, Kill Yr Darlings, fine print and Debris Magazine (forthcoming 2026).
With an interdisciplinary background in community media, art and audio documentary, my radio writing, audio storytelling and journalism has been published by community radio across Australia, ABC RN, and The Wheeler Centre (VIC).
My print and digital journalism has been published in independent media outlet The Westsider, and RMIT’s The City Journal. I studied Creative Writing as part of my BA undergrad, and in 2024 completed a Grad Dip in Journalism from RMIT.
My creative non-fiction and essays interrogate the systemic and personal, with a particular interest in social justice, community building and the arts, and I am a current member of Writers SA.
Across print and audio, my practice favours local and community storytelling, arts profiles, access to justice, and community activism. I’m driven by responsible reportage and narrative beats, and love delving into story structure and stakes to find the most compelling way to hook a reader or listener.
An experienced interviewer and in-depth researcher, I can flip between hard news and feature writing to personal essays and profiles, and love to creatively tackle nuance and context in features to make them accessible and engaging.
Most recently, I was a scholarship recipient for Faber Academy’s short course Writing The Essay with cultural critic and essayist Eda Gunaydin in late 2025.
Photo: Melanie Bakewell
The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag.
