Meet the Summer guest editor

Meet Lisa Ford our Summer issue guest editor. She has previously written articles for the hillscene so I was very pleased when she decided to be our guest editor. She’s decided to donate her earnings from doing the hillscene to the bushfire fundraising efforts. What a legend.

Tell us a little bit about your writing journey?

It all started when I was just a slip of a girl at school: I used to write my older sister’s English essays and was encouraged by the As ‘we’ used to get!. I majored in English Literature at university and worked as a journalist before the 1990s recession took my career down a different path. Two decades and three children later, my withering creative urge prompted me to study creative writing for a couple of years at Coonara Community House, where I wrote for the Foothills mag before jumping to hillscene.

Why did you want to become an editor/writer?

I love words and working with them in any capacity. After my toe-dip into writing, being an editor was always on the bucket list to satisfy my passions for grammar and spelling (nerd alert!) and for a sense of finally being the conductor of the orchestra.

What is an editor’s role in this era of fake news and alternative facts?

Ah, the era of fake news and alternative facts is a logical outcome of the seemingly benign Age of Relativism, in which the truth is now just one of many casualties of humankind’s mad march to idiocracy, along with the planet’s environment, most species except our own, democracy, science, reason etc. (don’t get me started!) In short, it should be the editor’s role to ensure the truth is told. 

How did you become involved with the hillscene?

 I have always enjoyed reading hillscene at local cafes and am a huge fan of the arts, the performing arts and Burrinja. It seemed like a great fit for me. 

In what ways, if any, do you engage with the hills community?

Our kids went to school locally for 12 years, played various sports, joined voluntary organisations such as scouts and CFA Juniors. I have also joined writing groups, tai chi and yoga classes and am an avid fan of plays, performances and art shows at Burrinja, the 1812 and Cloudehill.  Every experience deepens my connection with the community. But even more than that, I love the human scale of the hills, where I can exchange ‘Good mornings’ with a stranger in the street to fleetingly recognise our shared humanity.

What do you wish you knew about being a writer/editor before you got started?

I wish I had the hillscene style guide, because I missed a few things – sorry! 

Who are your creative heroes?

It has to be Shakespeare for literature and Puccini for opera. Both make me swoon.

What do you enjoy about living in the Dandenong Ranges?

Nature, wildlife, the earthy arty people and our fabulous townships 

What are your plans for the future (immediate or long term)?

I want to do a 10 day Vipassana silent retreat this year.   It’s time. 

Something else you want us to know? Here is your chance!

My hero is Greta Thunberg. We need young people like her to save the world. 

Meet the Spring guest editor

Meet Melanie Bateson, our Spring guest editor. We met many years ago when I had a clothes swapping party at my house. Her humour comes out in her writing and I’m glad she has joined our team as an editor.

Tell us a little bit about your writing journey?

I have always loved writing and reading stories.  My Mum read to us as children, which fired my imagination up. I still have a couple of little stories and poems that I wrote in primary school, which are pretty cute. I was encouraged by two particular teachers at secondary school, and enjoyed developing my style while at Monash Uni in the 1990s, particularly through the study of film. Having teachers who see your talent and know how to tease it out of you is an amazing gift, so thank you to Mrs Jones, Ms Bruzzese and Liz and Heather!

Why did you want to become a writer/editor?

Being a writer is not a conscious decision, it just is. I was encouraged to apply for the guest editorship earlier this year and was successful in my application. I suspect I was the only applicant…I have found myself glowing a little since undertaking this role, which is all kinds of lovely.

What is an editor’s role in this era of fake news and alternative facts?

Keeping content genuine and grass roots is a passion of mine. Getting to the kernel of truth via the human story is my idea of real news and actual facts. The human story is everything.

How did you become involved with the hillscene?

After having children, I realised that writing was a compulsion for me, and was provided an opportunity to write for the Hillscene by Adriana as a result of our offspring attending the same local kinder. After a bit of a hiatus, and a loss of self-belief, I decided at the beginning of this year to get back into it. As a result, I have had an article picked up by the AFL website, and online magazine Mamamia. None of this would have happened had I not been encouraged by Adriana.

In what ways, if any, do you engage with the hills community?

Most of my engagement with the Hills community has been via my children, and the people I have met through their kinder, primary school and sporting exploits. Meeting artists, of all ilks, this way is a wonderful point of commonality, lending itself to a connection that is personal rather than professional. Half the time, none of us know what the other “does” until a lengthy time into the friendship.

What do you wish you knew about being a writer/editor before you got started?

Everything! I feel so lost in this world, as I have only recently decided to give it a real crack, and there is much to learn and navigate. A glaring example is how do writers get paid? This appears to be largely arbitrary. Why is this not already sorted out? The best part of it, however, is the support and encouragement afforded by other writers. They are utterly generous.

Who are your creative hero’s?

Stephen King, Danny Katz, Catherine Deveny, and anyone who has made their creative endeavour their profession.

What do you enjoy about living in the Dandenong Ranges?

The close knit community

Where can people find more information about you?

poopnbumpublishing.com

What are your plans for the future (immediate or long term)?

To continue writing articles, submitting them to various publications for publication, and observing the world through my own lens.

Something else you want us to know? Here is your chance!

Be yourself, maintain your sense of humour, it may even save your life.