Writer in Residence 2026: Melanie Bakewell

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:

• Melanie Bakewell

  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

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The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag.

Writer in Residence 2025: Steph Daughtry

We are thrilled to announce Steph Daughtry as the recipient of the 2025 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:

• Steph Daughtry

  Steph is an award winning cross-disciplinary artist, producer, director, and writer working predominantly in live performance and installation.

  Specialising in collaborative and devised forms of theatre that explore social and environmental impacts, her credits include Brag Drunch (Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2023), The Fish Bowl (Best Theatre and Physical Theatre Award at the Adelaide Fringe in 2022), and Eating Tomorrow (Sustainability Award Adelaide Fringe 2021).

  Steph works as an independent freelance artist, as well as in her role as the co-Founder and co-Artistic Director of production company Post Dining, producing award-winning, innovative forms of entertainment and education designed to engage all the senses.

  Steph is currently completing her PhD as part of Uni SA Creative exploring the impact of cultural policy on the capacity for artists to engage in professional practice. As part of this research Steph has published in the Journal of Sociology exploring the impact of arts funding, and has previously written for Felt Space as part of their writers program, and published pieces in Fine Print magazine and The Skinny (Edinburgh). Steph looks forward to using her residency to translate her research into smaller digestible pieces that engage with the artistic community at The Mill and wider Adelaide. 

Photo: Bri Hammond

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The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag.

Writer in Residence 2024: Marina Deller

The Mill is thrilled to announce Marina Deller as the recipient of the 2024 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:

• Marina Deller

  Marina Deller is writer, academic, and critic, working and creating on Kaurna Land. Marina has a PhD in Creative Writing (Life Writing) from Flinders University, where they are an award-winning teacher of Writing and Literature.

  In their creative practice Marina examines art, culture, (queer) identity, family, love, and loss. They write essays, short stories, poetry, and hybrid works incorporating objects, art, and photography.

  Their writing appears in such outlets as The Conversation, Westerly, Voiceworks, Archer, Babyteeth Journal, and InDaily and has been painted on the city streets as part of Raining Poetry in Adelaide. Their short story “Nostos” was shortlisted for the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction 2021, and their essay “Dresses, heavy with water” was highly commended in the AAWP/Westerly Magazine Life Writing Prize 2022.

  Marina is also a recent recipient of the Island View Writers’ House Emerging Writer Residency and an active member of the Life Narrative Lab where they curate and run reading events which platform emerging life writers.

Photo: Supplied by Marina Deller.

Outcomes

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The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag.

Writer in Residence 2023: Aushaf Widisto

The Mill is thrilled to announce Aushaf Widisto as the recipient of the Citymag 2023 Writer in Residence July-December residency.

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:

• Aushaf Widisto

  Aushaf Widisto is an emerging writer from Indonesia, currently based in Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide), Australia. His writing has been published in numerous publications across the web, both under his real name and pen name Adam Erland.

  As Aushaf, he writes about arts, culture, creative industries and urbanism – which are subjects he is formally trained in. While as Adam, he writes more freely about his other passions – ranging from 'serious' stuff like philosophy to 'trivial' stuff like pop culture.

  Aushaf writes in both English and Bahasa Indonesia, and has dabbled with many writing forms, including reviews, listicles and even academic papers. That said, he is most comfortable when writing memoirs and personal essays. He loves sharing lessons and experiences from his own life and finding the common humanity between his stories and other people’s.

  In 2022, Aushaf launched the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT)’s Emerging Writer Series as the inaugural emerging writer, where he wrote about SPECTRA, ANAT’s triennial festival of art, science and technology.

  Learn more about Aushaf's work on his website.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist

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Writer in Residence 2023: Corrie Hosking

The Mill is thrilled to announce Corrie Hosking as the recipient of the Citymag 2023 Writer in Residence January-June residency.

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:

• Corrie Hosking

  Corrie has spent the past 17 years focusing on family, land-restoration and employment as a Paediatric Social Worker. She is privileged with experience across the Arts and Health sectors (including PhD: Creative Writing). Interwoven with academic education, Corrie’s early writing achieved various awards and publications—including Festival Award for Literature: Unpublished Manuscript, prompting publication of first novel, Ash Rain (Wakefield Press, 2004), Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Writer (2005), publication of second novel, Eating Lolly (Forth-Estate, 2008) and the fortune of Arts SA and Australia Council support.

  More recently, she has sought opportunities to explore new creative terrain. Corrie has attended International Artists Residencies including ‘Luminous Bodies 2018’, Toronto Island, Canada and in 2019, ‘New Course’, Hämeenkyrö, Finland.

  Most recently, Corrie was awarded the 2022 Deep Creek Residency Fellowship—the inaugural initiative of Matilda Bookshop, Writers SA, Ultimo Press, with mentorship provided by Hannah Kent.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist

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Writer in Residence 2022: Renee Miller

The Mill is thrilled to announce Renee Miller as the recipient of the City Mag 2022 Writer in Residence January-June residency.

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

  Renee Miller is an emerging queer writer and a lifelong resident of Adelaide. Her focus is on creative writing, but she is passionate about all forms of art and writing. 

  To grow her writing practice, she studied a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Creative Writing, sub-majoring in Cultural Studies at UniSA.

  She went on to complete her honours, combining the knowledge from both of her fields of prior study. She has contributed Writing from Below and UniSA’s Piping Shrike collection.

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The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag

Writer in Residence 2022: Piri Eddy

The Mill is thrilled to announce Piri Eddy as the recipient of the City Mag 2022 Writer in Residence July-December residency.

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.

A grant from Arts SA supports Piri’s engagement with The Mill.

• About the writer

  Piri Eddy is an award-winning playwright, writer, screenwriter, and producer living and working on Kaurna country.

  His work has been produced for Radio National and published in such places as Westerly Magazine, Island, and Australian Book Review. Piri won the 2020 Jill Blewett Playwrights Award for his one-act play Forgiveness, which premiered at RUMPUS in 2021. 

  Find out more: pirithewriter.com

  Twitter: @piri_eddy

Photographer: Johanis Lyons-Reid

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The Writer in Residence program is presented in partnership with CityMag

Writer in Residence 2021: Tanner Muller

The Mill is thrilled to announce Tanner Muller as the recipient of the City Mag 2021 Writer in Residence January-June residency.

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

  Tanner Muller is a queer writer from Adelaide, South Australia. His work has appeared in GLAM Adelaide, Anti Heroin Chic, and The Serenade Files, among others. His self-published collection of interrelated stories ‘under/Limelight’ (2020) is available through Amazon Kindle and Apple iBooks.

  He holds a BA Honours in English and Creative Writing from UniSA. You can usually find him typing on his laptop or slurring his words at an open mic.

Photo: Daniel Sutherland

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Writer in Residence 2021: James Murphy

The Mill is thrilled to announce James Murphy as the recipient of the City Mag 2021 Writer in Residence July-December residency.

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

  James Murphy has worked as a South Australian Arts, Music and Gaming Writer for Scenestr- 2015-present,
  contributed to InDaily, Junkee Media's The Upsider, City Mag's The City Standard, The Serenade Files, Fritz Mag, and Fight News Australia (which is a bit left field, but he likes his cage fighting).

  James has written national cover stories for Scenestr, most recently on Megan Washington, interviewed and covered artists and artistic directors from State Opera, State Theatre, OzAsia and more.

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Writer In Residence: Jess Martin

The Mill’s Writer in Residence program is focused on fostering arts writing and criticism by emerging arts writers. This year The Mill will partner with Fine Print magazine for writing and editing support and with Scotch College for an additional Writer In Residence educational program.

• About the writer

  Jess Martin is a non-fiction writer, multi-disciplinary artist, producer and arts worker. As a critic their work has been published in Fest Magazine, Buzzcuts, On Dit and dB Magazine. Jess has a strong interest in experimental performance, dance and theatre. They also write creative non- ction in the form of personal essay. In their writing Jess has a clear voice which captures strong visual imagery, a sense of gestural motion, and unexpected wit. Jess's artistic practice involves working primarily with textile sculpture in relation with the body, informed by themes of phenomenological exploration, regional landscapes and communities, and queer identity. In 2018 Jess participated in Vitalstatistix's Adhocracy residency and performance festival with lead artist Alaskan First Nations dancer Emily Johnson, contributing spoken word and site speci c performance. In May this year they took part in the UNESCO Riverland Biosphere Soundscape Lab at Calperum Station, lead by sound artist Jesse Budel. Most recently Jess has worked with Japanese-Australian contemporary artist Hiromi Tango at Splendour in the Grass facilitating the Hiromi Hotel: Brain Flower project space. They also participated in process driven dance performance at Hiromi Hotel lead by artists from Hobart based DRILL dance company and Adelaide based Motus collective. Jess has studied media, politics and art history and is currently working as a moderator at MOD. and as a freelance writer and artist.

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Writer in Residence 2019: Jennifer Eadie

The Mill’s Writer in Residence program is focused on fostering arts writing and criticism by emerging arts writers. This year The Mill will partner with Fine Print magazine for writing and editing support and with Scotch College for an additional Writer In Residence educational program.

Each Writer In Residence is provided with a 6 month residency at The Mill in a private studio, with The Mill commissioning three pieces of writing per artist and support them on a personal collaborative project.

About the writer:

• Jennifer Eadie

  Jennifer is writer and artist, having only recently moved to Adelaide / Kaurna country. Currently, she is a lecturer & tutor for the Aboriginal Pathway Program at UniSA. Jennifer studied art and creative writing at UNSW and critical legal studies at ANU. Her writing practice is motivated by the broad question of whether the notion of community - which is currently premised on an exclusive human ‘we’ - can be re-imagined so as to recognise and include ecological agency.

  Her upcoming book Rethinking the Animal Rights Movement (Routledge) explores this question from historical and activist perspectives. Her writing has been published in Modern Fiction Studies, Borderlands e-journal and extempore.

Writer in Residence 2018: Letti K-Ewing

The Mill is thrilled to announce Letti K-Ewing as the recipient of the 2018 Writer in Residence residency. Letti receives a studio at The Mill for 6 months, a budget for commissioned writing and publication outcomes with our partner organisations.

The Writer in Residence program supports emerging writers from a variety of disciplines. The program creates a broader audience for writing through leadership, mentorship and publication.

• About the writer

  Letti is a published journalist and poetry writer with a special interest in the Arts. She has written for Adelaide online and print magazine Yewth, and Edinburgh-based magazine, Fest, covering both local and international artists and acts during Adelaide Fringe Festival, Adelaide Festival, and beyond.
  
  Letti has also had her poetry published in Chicago-based magazine Hooligan Mag, and exhibited written poetry works locally at Adelaide Fringe Festival.
  
  You can view Letti's portfolio of works and engage with her through her website: lettikewing.wordpress.com

Writer in Residence 2018: Ben Brooker

The Mill is thrilled to announce Ben Brooker as the recipient of the 2018 Writer in Residence residency. Ben receives a studio at The Mill for 6 months, a budget for commissioned writing and publication outcomes with our partner organisations.

The Writer in Residence program supports emerging writers from a variety of disciplines. The program creates a broader audience for writing through leadership, mentorship and publication.

• Ben Brooker

  Ben is a writer, editor, critic, essayist, and playwright. His work has been featured by Overland, New Matilda, New Internationalist, Australian Book Review, RealTime, The Lifted Brow, and Daily Review. Ben is a co-facilitator of Adelaide’s Quart Short literary reading salons and in 2016-17 was an inaugural Sydney Review of Books Emerging Critics Fellow.
  
  Find out more: benbrooker.com

Testimonial:

“It was great to have The Mill’s support, and the company of so many lovely Mill residents, as I wrote some of the most challenging and rewarding pieces I’ve done in some time. From getting branded (twice!) to tangling with Peter Goers, it was a wild ride.” Ben Brooker, 2018-19 Writer in Residence

Writer in Residence 2017: Eleanor Scicchitano

The Mill is thrilled to announce Eleanor Scicchitano as the recipient of the 2018 Writer in Residence residency. Over the next 12 months, Eleanor will create work for, with and about The Mill, from a permanent base within our creative community.

The Writer in Residence program supports emerging writers from a variety of disciplines. The program creates a broader audience for writing through leadership, mentorship and publication.

• About the writer

  Eleanor is the Visual Arts Program Curator at Country Arts SA. In 2012 she completed a Masters in Curatorial and Museum Studies at Adelaide University and she has previously work as a co-director at FELTspace ARI and founding co-director of onesixteenth ARI. She is a Board member at ACE Open, and spent 5 weeks in Venice in 2015, working in the Australian Pavilion at the Biennale.

  She maintains in independent curatorial and writing practice, and has presented exhibitions in galleries around Australia. She has published articles, reviews and essays with Artlink Magazine, Marmalade, and for a number of artists and galleries in Adelaide.

Testimonial:

“The writer-in-residence program at The Mill gave me the space, not just physically but also mentally, to focus on my writing. It allowed me to dedicate time to my practice, and to grow it through new opportunities. I was able to expand my repertoire to include pieces about dance and residencies. This was challenging, but also rewarding as I was able to learn a new language, and to explore a different discipline.” Eleanor Scicchitano, 2017-18 Writer in Residence

Writer in Residence 2017: Aimee Knight

The Mill is thrilled to announce Aimee Knight as the recipient of the 2017 Writer in Residence residency. Over the next 12 months, Aimee will create work for, with and about The Mill, from a permanent base within our creative community.

The Writer in Residence program supports emerging writers from a variety of disciplines. The program creates a broader audience for writing through leadership, mentorship and publication.

• About the writer

  Aimee writes cultural criticism and creative non-fiction. Her words appear on and in The Big Issue Australia, Little White Lies, Kill Your Darlings, The Lifted Brow, Daily Life, Broadly and more.
  
  In 2015 she was a Writer in Residence at SA Writers Centre. The following year, she was selected for Critics Campus at Melbourne International Film Festival. She’s set to appear as an artist at National Young Writers' Festival in October 2017.
  
  Aimee is a poptimist who digs gender equality, sexual diversity and good mental health. Dancing on stage with Bruce Springsteen didn’t cure her anxiety, but it sure did help.
  
  Read her work here: www.clippings.me/siraimeeknight

Testimonial:

“As an inaugural Writer in Residence at The Mill, I've had the space and support to connect with many of the resident and exhibiting artists. It's a lively environment full of fascinating people creating vital new work. The Mill's staff has been especially encouraging of all my literary endeavours.” Aimee Knight, 2017-18 Writer in Residence