Steve Grimwade
Steve Grimwade has had various jobs in the Melbourne literary sector including Director of the Melbourne writers festival and editor of Going Down Swinging. Steve Grimwade brings a wealth experience to the board especially of the Victorian literary world. In 2009 he released a book to celebrate Melbourne’s recent crowning as a UNESCO city of literature called Literary Melbourne. This book showcased 60 Melbourne and Victorian writers as part of a greater exploration into the people and history of Melbourne. He currently works at Melbourne University and is actively involved with various writing projects. Steve is the board’s chair has been on the board since 2010.
Sandra Boyd
Sandra has extensive experience in business strategy, financial management and human resource management, having worked with small and medium sized enterprises across education and services industries. She currently works in education policy and strategy with the Victorian Government. Sandra is passionate about maximising efficiency and effectiveness while supporting and developing people. With significant experience in entrepreneurial start-ups, and having profitably operated and subsequently sold her own SME, Sandra has enjoyed mentoring over 100 small scale start-ups across numerous industries.
Vartika Patel
Vartika is a finance professional and has worked at Ernst & Young, Crown Casino, and Officeworks. She came on the board at GDS because of her interest in providing finance assistance to a not-for-profit organisation. Vartika is the board Treasurer and a board member since 2014.
Anna Kelsey-Sugg
Anna Kelsey-Sugg is an online editor and community manager at the ABC, working in the broadcaster’s digital network division. She is the former editor of The Victorian Writer magazine, and has managed communications or digital campaigns for several arts and other non-profit organisations, including Writers Victoria, Theatre Network Victoria and the Australian Education Union. Going Down Swinging board member since 2015 and is currently the company secretary.
Sonia Nair
Sonia Nair is General Manager of independent human rights media organisation Right Now as well as a writer and critic who has been published by The Wheeler Centre, The Lifted Brow, Meanjin, Time Out, Kill Your Darlings, Metro and the Australian Book Review, among others. Sonia is a regular featured critic on the literary and cultural podcast Rereaders and blogs about how she never follows her food intolerances at www.whateverfloatsyourbloat.
Dr Elizabeth MacFarlane
Dr Elizabeth MacFarlane is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Melbourne. She published her book Reading Coetzee in 2013 and teaches in the areas of Theory for Writing, Graphic Narratives and Short Fiction. Elizabeth is co-director of the annual artists’ residency the Comic Art Workshop, and co-director of publishing company Twelve Panels Press. Going Down Swinging board member since 2013