AustLit

Associate Professor Maggie Nolan joined AustLit as Director in July 2023. She is an Associate Professor in Digital Cultural Heritage in the School of Communication and Arts and the recently appointed Director of AustLit. Maggie's research is in the broad field of Australian Literary Cultures, specifically Irishness in Australian literature; contemporary Indigenous literatures; hoaxes, imposture and mistaken identity in Australian literary culture; reading, reception and book clubs; and digital literary studies.

Maggie values interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches to humanities research.

See UQ Researchers page: Maggie Nolan.

Visit Maggie's AustLit record.

Catriona Mills began work at AustLit in 2010, and is currently the Content Manager. She holds degrees from Macquarie University and The University of Queensland, including a PhD on the writing career of Australian-trained nineteenth-century actor Eliza Winstanley.

She has published on adaptations of penny weekly serials to the suburban stage, authorship attribution in nineteenth-century periodicals, steampunk, and Doctor Who, and has led AustLit research projects on steampunk and early Australian television.

Visit Catriona's AustLit record.

Brendan Jeon has been a developer for AustLit and Cirrus which is Learning and Teaching platform provided by AustLit since 2016.

He loves reading books, and watching clips about scientists' biographies as well as science history. Brendan has also published some computer programming books.

Joanne Sawyers completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Studies at The University of Queensland in 2002. After completing a Certificate in Workplace Assessment and Training she taught Computer Studies at the Bremer Institute of TAFE.

After a short period working as a volunteer guide at the Ipswich Art Gallery, she took up a position as a Research Assistant for Dr Toni Johnson-Woods, working on her ARC funded pulp fiction project. During this time, she also lectured and tutored Media Studies at The University of Queensland Ipswich campus.

In 2009, she joined the AustLit team and is now the organisation’s senior researcher and indexer.

Joanne's favourite authors include Michael Robotham, Candice Fox, Adrian McKinty, and Dervla McTiernan.

Jonathan is a web developer with The University of Queensland's Digital Humanities and Social Sciences initiative run through UQ's Research Computing Centre. He has been a developer for AustLit for over ten years.

He writes poetry and short fiction and is a lover of Celtic folk music, occasionally attempting to play the Irish flute and tin whistle. 

Visit Jonathan's AustLit record.

Professor Anita Heiss is a proud Wiradjuri woman, but born in Gadigal country. She has spent much of her life on Dharawal land near La Perouse. Anita is an award-winning prolific writer and editor of non-fiction, children's novels, historical fiction, and commercial fiction. 

Anita is a strong advocate for Indigenous literacy, and is a Patron of Indigenous Literacy Foundation. Her support and leadership of BlackWords began at its foundation in 2007, and regularly advocates for BlackWords through educational and academic events.

In 2019, Anita was appointed Professor of Communications at The University of Queensland, and divides her time between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies (ATSIS) Unit, and The School of Communication and Arts. Anita is also on the Board for State Library of Queensland.

Visit Anita's AustLit record.

Amy Schoonens (nee Cross) has collaborated with AustLit since 2008: initially as a Project Manager on three large-scale children's literature projects, then as research assistant at AustLit, UQ, from 2018-2020. Amy's roles included subscription management, research, indexing, project assistance and content development.

Her research interests include children's and young adult literature, genre fiction and digital humanities. Amy has a Bachelor of Arts (UQ), Grad Dip. in Library and Information Management (CSU) and a Master of Arts, Children's Literature (MQ). She has previously worked as a Researcher and Librarian.

In 2020, Amy left her employment position at AustLit to undertake a PhD at Queensland University of Technology researching The Online Book Consumption Practices of Teen Readers: Mapping the Digital Ecology of Teen Reading.  Amy was offered an ARC Discovery Scholarship to undertake this research.

Visit Amy's AustLit record.