About liz

I’m a British journalist, author, psychotherapist and researcher currently based on unceded melukerdee land in lutruwita/Tasmania. Since 1988 I have written about music, film, books, women’s issues, health, travel, psychology, lifestyle, parenting and environmental issues, contributing lead features and interviews to a broad selection of magazines, newspapers, academic journals and digital platforms around the world. These include The Guardian, NME, New Statesman, Elle, Dumbo Feather, Lunch Lady, TasWeekend, Island Magazine, Womankind, Psychotherapy and Politics International, and The Conversation, among many others.  

My career began in London with a decade in music journalism, and during this time I authored two books on women and rock culture for Pandora Press, had brief stints as a TV presenter and radio rock critic, and developed and taught my own adult education course in music journalism at London’s Mary Ward Centre. I interviewed countless rock musicians and was lucky enough to spend time with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam in their early, pre-fame days. I covered Riot Grrl for NME, spent a marathon stint in Hollywood with Courtney Love for Elle UK, and I still have a pair of John Fluevog shoes that Kim Gordon gave me when I interviewed her at home in New York, back in 1993.

In 1999, I decided to deepen my understanding of human nature and began training as a psychodynamic psychotherapist. I obtained two clinical qualifications as well as an MA in Jungian Studies from the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at the University of Essex, and ran my own private practice in southern Tasmania for almost ten years. I also published several academic papers on ecofeminism, ecopsychology, and Jungian theory, including my Masters thesis from 2003. While no longer practicing, I continue to apply psychoanalytic theory and ideas within my writing, and my interview skills have benefited enormously from being trained to listen properly.

Additionally, I’m an experienced editor, sub-editor and proof-reader. I’ve chaired debates, appeared on and facilitated panels, and presented talks and seminars at academic conferences and cultural events in London, Dublin, Hobart, Vilnius and Sydney, as well as online national events in Australia. I’ve spoken on rock music, ecopsychology, psychotherapy, and most recently the representation of female psychologies in contemporary thrillers as part of my research for a scholarship-funded PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Tasmania. I have also gained experience teaching undergraduate courses in Sustainability Literacy, English Grammar and Composition, Family History creative writing, Critical and Creative Reading, Reading the Screen, and Creative Writing: Professional Practice.

In 2021 - 2022, I was the Research Assistant on an Environmental Communication project based at Deakin University, led by Dr Gabi Mocatta and Dr Erin Hawley.

In 2022, I was awarded a Varuna Residential Fellowship, and one of the two inaugural Pitch Me Varuna Fellowships, for my Catherine Wheel.

In 2023, I was awarded a Katherine Susan Prichard Residential Fellowship, and an Educational Residency from Arts Tasmania. I also I took up a fixed-term direct appointment as an Associate Lecturer in English and Writing at the University of Tasmania for a year.

I am a regular contributor to the Bookish slot on ABC Hobart radio, and I review novels for The Conversation.

My fiction is represented by Tara Wynne at Curtis Brown Australia. My debut novel, Catherine Wheel is published by Ultimo Press on July 31st, 2024.

All photographs of me on this website were taken by Sophie Reid at concretecloudphotography.com.au