from the editor's desk
Our new Creative Nonfiction Editor: Dr Stefanie Markidis
We are so excited to announce Dr Stefanie Markidis as Westerly’s new Creative Nonfiction Editor. Stefanie will be working alongside Julie Koh (Fiction Editor), Lucy Dougan (Poetry Editor), Casey Mulder (First Nations Writing) and Cassandra Atherton (Commissioning Editor). Her work will begin with Issue 69.1. Stefanie’s interest in the social role of life stories, in combination with her love of innovative literary form, makes her a great fit for the Magazine!
Stefanie is a writer and researcher in the expanded field of nonfiction writing. She is a Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literary Studies at Deakin University in Melbourne. Her work spans creative nonfiction, life writing and creative-critical arts practice, and her writing has appeared in major Australian magazines, journals and on stage. Stefanie has a longstanding editorial career: she has edited nonfiction books in travel and culture, and was the founding creative writing editor at Ramona Magazine.
Stefanie was awarded her PhD in Creative Writing from RMIT University in 2020 and has been lecturing and teaching writing since 2015. She is interested in life stories, how they are communicated and the capacity of this communication to make positive change in the world.
Dr Daniel Juckes, Editor of Westerly, says of Stefanie’s appointment: ‘It is a genuine thrill to have Stefanie reading for Westerly! She is an advocate for innovative and beautiful life writing—and for work which both moves the reader and helps them to think’.
Given the growing significance of creative nonfiction in the world and in the submissions pool, it became important to split the Prose Editor role, which Stefanie will share with Julie Koh. What this allows is further dynamism in our team of External Editors. We look forward to Stefanie’s contributions across 2024, and hope you will welcome her to the Westerly Family.
