Here’s a little more about Sheila Hollingworth…
As a cartoonist
I’ve been drawing cartoons for more than 20 years, although it’s only within the last five or so that I’ve been ‘getting them out in the world’ in a more organised manner.
I’m a great believer in the power of laughter and I think we all need to laugh more!! That doesn’t mean I only deal with light and whimsical topics, although I do love simply silly stuff at times. But I also enjoy expressing my concerns and observations on social, equity and justice issues through the medium of cartoons.
So I hope I make people laugh, as well as perhaps cry, and certainly I hope people think a little more about their lives and our bigger world.
Nearly 400 of my cartoons have been published in a range of publications including:
- newspapers and magazines – The Sydney Morning Herald; Eureka Street; Australian Senior Traveller; Reading Time; 50s Lifestyle; and I produced a weekly cartoon, for six months, for The Advocate;
- special interest newsletters and literary anthologies – Accord, the Journal of Spinal Cord Injuries Australia; Eingana, the Journal of the Victorian Association for Environmental Education; Pendulum; and Fables and Reflections;
- corporate and non-fiction publications – Prepare and Serve Espresso Coffee, produced by the Coffee Academy; Diversity Matters, published by the Diversity Council Australia; a La Trobe University guide for students with disabilities; and in the two non-fiction books for writers that I co-authored with Rhonda Whitton (see below); plus
- various mounted cartoons, greeting cards and calendars.
My first cartoon exhibition, A Little Whimsy, was part of the 2003 Daylesford Words in Winter Festival. During the exhibition I launched a collection of my cartoons, Pet Hates. Little things that make your blood boil! These 80 cartoons take a humorous look at the little things in life that irritate us - from political correctness to school bullies, from rodents in the roof to lousy drivers, and from strip clubs to coping with teenagers. This collection continues to grow.
I have also produced cartoons for the Victorian Women’s Trust (www.vwt.org.au) and for their amazing Watermark project, which brought together ordinary people to discuss water issues and to explore how we, as a community, want to manage this vital resource into the future (www.watermarkaustralia.org.au).
Some of my cartoon ‘products’ are for sale through a couple of local outlets in Daylesford, Victoria, including the Pantechnicon Gallery (www.daylesfordartgallery.com.au) and the Daylesford Regional Visitors Centre (www.hepburnshire.com.au).
As a writer
I have worked as a freelance writer since 1998. During that time I have co-authored two books for writers, A Decent Proposal. How to sell your book to an Australian publisher and Mission Possible. How to make money from your writing. Both were published by Common Ground Publishing (www.booksonwriting.cgpublisher.com) and both are highly practical resources for writers wanting to learn more about how to be successful.
Most of my freelance writing has been in the corporate field, and I have written and edited a range of interviews and profile articles, reports, policy documents, award submissions, tender documents and academic materials.
I also occasionally write short fiction and some of my stories have been published in Fables and Reflections and Pendulum, a couple of literary anthologies. Others have won short story competitions such as the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ (FAW) Lyndall Hadow Award, and the FAW Community Writers Award.
As a teacher of writing
I regularly run workshops for writers on how to get published and how to make money from writing. These are usually offered through the CAE in Melbourne (www.cae.edu.au) and the Victorian Writers Centre (www.writers-centre.org), and I also appeared at the 2005 Melbourne Writers Festival (www.mwf.com.au) talking on the same topic.
I also teach non-fiction and corporate writing as part of the Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing course run by the CAE in Melbourne.
