Meet The Writers

Jan lives in West End and has been a regular writer for The Westender since 2013. She has been active with local community groups, and with her trade union.

Jan Bowman

Annabel Johnston is a dietitian with a passion for optimising the physical and mental health of the community. Annabel develops evidence-based social media content and owns a dietitian practice focused on practical and actionable results for everyday people.

Annabel Johnston

Website: https://www.nutritionforliving.net
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annabel-johnston-ba9476154

Chris Dawson is a professional historian with extensive experience researching and presenting the history of southern Brisbane. He initiated the incorporation of the Friends of South Brisbane Cemetery and also the Boggo Road Gaol Historical Society, and is the secretary of those organisations. He is a strong advocate of utilising Public History to engage communities in their local history, with the aim of encouraging them to become active protectors of heritage. Chris was the co-recipient of the John Oxley Library Award for 2021.

Christopher Dawson

Websites:
https://www.boggoroadgaol.com.au
https://www.fosbc.com

Dick Bennett is a retired State Public Servant who worked in management roles in the Qld Police Service, Department of Environment (National Parks) and the Department of Primary Industries. His role has been writing Ministerial briefings and correspondence and preparing press releases, draft legislation and policy documents. He has also had roles in a finance and management.

He has been an unpaid volunteer for several not-for-profit organisations in Brisbane as well as in Townsville and Cairns.

He is a Justice of the Peace (Qual), and holds a Diploma of Management.

He has been a volunteer mentor, and publicity and grants officer for Brisbane Seniors Online for around 16 years. He loves volunteering and still a volunteers with Good Neighbourhood Program-Brisbane City Council and Sandgate RSL sub-branch. He has volunteered with Animal Refuge at Bracken Ridge and in the National Parks as an Honorary Fauna Protector.

He was a foundation member of three men sheds in Brisbane (Mt Gravatt, Nundah and Sandgate) and been on committee for two (Nundah and Sandgate).

He was also an Army Reservist as a transport driver in the RAASC (later RACT) at Ashgrove and later Townsville.

Dick Bennett

Website: www.bsol.asn.au
Facebook: https://facebook.com/BrisbaneSeniorsOnline

Hannah Schuch is a 4101 local, having lived in various parts of Highgate Hill and West End over the past 4 years. Hannah works as an environmental campaigner and communications specialist for conservation campaigns across Queensland, in particular the Our Living Outback alliance and the Western Rivers Alliance. Hannah loves to contribute stories that connect people in the city with nature not only in urban settings but further afield like the Outback and with those that work hard to keep these landscapes healthy. Hannah is passionate about empowering communities on the frontlines to share their stories and create change. When Hannah isn’t campaigning for more national parks and protected areas, Indigenous Ranger jobs or to ban fracking in Queensland’s Channel Country, she can be found playing piano, at live music concerts, delving through op shops or at the beach.

Hannah Schuch

Twitter: @hanschuch
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-schuch

Ian Were writes on contemporary art, design, and culture and has recently written short stories. Since 1997 he has edited more than 20 art books and publications, including 12 recent books as a freelance editor. He has written regularly for Australian art and culture journals — beginning, in the late 1970s, with street magazines Preview and Adelaide Review.

Ian has been a resident of West End since 2002.

Ian Were

Website: www.art-random.com

John Jiggens is a writer, former academic and a journalist, who was the founding editor of the Westender and The Cane Toad Times and who has been a 4ZZZ journalist over several decades. John was an independent candidate for South Brisbane in the most recent State election.

John Jiggens

Kurilpa peninsula has been my home for 45 years now. I have always loved its cultural mix, walkability, lively streets and rich array of community interest groups, it makes anything seem possible. I spent my early working life in teacher training and then moved into environmental and social planning firstly in Brisbane City Council then as the focus of my consultancy business. As a community activist I have campaigned for very different urban planning across our peninsula, an end to fossil fuel extraction in Queensland and to greatly increasing the asset base for our community especially parks, community centres and information hubs throughout Kurilpa. These passions continue alongside my extra duties these days as a grandparent and 17 units of study for a financial counselling diploma!

Writing for the WestEnder is a privilege – this long-standing community paper enables us to share our concerns and gives us voice, it maintains an important record of locals from all walks of life and the local highlights around us.

Mary Maher

Phil Heywood is a past President of the Queensland Division of the Planning Institute of Australia and former head of QUT’s Department of Planning & Landscape Architecture, who has been simultaneously active for many years as a community planner, advocate and activist. He has been involved in numerous debates over directions of future development in Brisbane and Australia wide, from the future of South Bank and open space systems for South East Queensland to appropriate development for Brisbane’s inner suburbs. His publications include ones on Planning & Human Need, The Emerging Social Metropolis and Community Planning, as well as many articles on social planning and housing policy, community governance, public participation and planning for truly independent societies. He remains an Adjunct Associate Professor with QUT, supervising research projects and teaching planning processes and community planning.

Phil Heywood

Rachel Hinds is the State Manager for the Top Blokes Foundation and was responsible for launching the charity in Queensland. Top Blokes is on a mission to improve young male health and well-being. They work with groups of boys and young men over 3 to 6 months to increase their resilience, empathy, and respect for self and others, and in doing so work to reduce the rates of suicides, mental health issues, antisocial and risk-taking behaviours.

Rachel Hinds

Rose Lane is a freelance writer and local West Ender. She has written for The Guardian, New Matilda, The Big Issue, and Living Now, and is currently working on a book about her journey to Lo Manthang, Nepal.

Rose Lane

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rose-lane-180a719
Website: roselane.com.au

Sally Dillon is a Brisbane-based freelance writer, with a focus on planning, women’s rights, travel and active transport. She writes for The Guardian and is co-founder of The Better Buranda Project, a community group established to campaign for better development outcomes for the Buranda (Woolloongabba) area.

Sally Dillon

Facebook: Sally.Dillon.Freelancer

Anina-Marie Warrener is the creative director and writer-in-chief for arts and culture platforms, Bravo Brisbane, and Bravo Gold Coast. A proud jack of all creative trades, Anina-Marie has worked as a writer, composer, singer, actor, director, and producer. She graduated from QUT’s Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) program in 2014 and UQ’s Master of Events Management in 2016. Most recently she wrote, composed, produced, and directed Mettle, Moxie & Melody for Anywhere Festival 2019 and Campfire Cabaret: The Legend of Deirdre for Anywhere Festival 2021.

Anina-Marie Warrener

Ben is a West End local who works in the renewable energy sector. Ben has recently completed a Master of Environmental Studies.

Benjamin Powell

Originally from Far North Queensland, I study at the University of Queensland while freelancing on the side. I’m passionate about news stories that affect local communities and the environment. Journalism should provide a voice for those who are otherwise voiceless, and there is a human aspect to every story. I wish to foreground this wherever I can.

Owen Sinclair