The Lip Crew

Zoya Patel (Editor-in-Chief)

Zoya has been writing for Lip since she was fifteen, and has been editor since 2010. When she isn’t dabbling in the art of editing, she writes freelance for a bunch of places, and blogs. Still slaving away at her studies (Masters of Communications), Zoya works full time in Communications as her day job, and occasionally tried this ‘relaxing’ thing people seem so into.

Josephine Mandarano (Managing Editor/Features Editor)

Josephine Mandarano is a twenty-something Melburnian who spends her nine-to-five knee-deep in the busy world of educational publishing. She reads (everything), writes (words, mostly), collects books (487 at last count), and spends too much time inside her head (and on the Internet). A self-professed word nerd, her remarks about our glorious language were quoted in the 2009 Victorian Certificate of Education English Language Exam – strange, but true. Her friends might describe her as a ranting Feminist who can be found, most days, sitting atop her metaphorical soapbox.

Ruby Mahoney (Editorial Assistant)

Completing Honours in Media and Communication at RMIT, Ruby is interested in the ethics and truth of nonfiction writing. Her “real jobs” include teaching children to read and taking minutes for Very Important People. Published in Catalyst and various anthologies, Ruby also blogs at New Veracities about nonfiction, childhoods and uncertainties.

 

 

Sub-Editors

Erin Stewart (Literature Editor)

Erin Stewart is 21, an anthropology student at the Australian National University. She likes putting tea bags in her pockets and the springtime. A walking compromise, Erin is diplomatic yet emotional, insane yet sensible, a strict grammarian who likes to verbify nouns and split infinitives. She can also work independently as part of a team, whatever that means. Her work has appeared in The Age and The Scavenger. Her blog can be found here.

 

Grace Carroll (Art Editor)

Grace Carroll is delighted to be the new Art and Theatre Editor of Lip Magazine. She has previously contributed to BMA Magazine, Portrait Magazine and was an Editor of the BLOCK Journal. With a background in curatorship and museum education, Grace enjoys exploring creative spaces and loves talking to artists about their work. When she isn’t visiting art galleries, museums or theatres, Grace is usually found in a library working on her PhD (Art History).  She hopes to finish it ­– one day…

 

Elizabeth Flux (Film Editor)

Elizabeth is a writer, cinephile and blogger who is becoming increasingly concerned that her book collection is growing at a rate far faster than she can read in one lifetime. She is a past editor of On Dit, has written reviews for the 2012 Adelaide Fringe, and writes regularly for pop culture website Subterranean Death Cult. She finds humour and a generous touch of the bizarre in the ways in which people are expected to handle or present themselves in day-to-day situations, which is what forms the subject matter for her ‘is it ok’ columns for Lip. Her blog can be found here.

Writers

Freya Dumas

When Freya Dumas got in trouble as a child, she was sent outside to ride her bike, because her room held her three favourite things: books, paper, pencils. She grew up in Central Australia, and suspects she has red dirt in her veins instead of blood. She graduated from UTS with a Masters of Creative Writing, and is prone to slipping into ‘writing comas’. She is rarely without a pen, but always forgets her keys.

Christine Campbell

Christine Campbell has been writing for Lip since September 2010. She is the resident New York City music journalist / cultural ambassador. She also works at a small digital advertising agency in Manhattan performing Search Engine Optimization and volunteers with an arts nonprofit, somehow also managing to help people with their websites on the side. In her spare time, she enjoys going to as many events as she can, sampling the awesome cuisines of Brooklyn and dreaming of the revolution. Her love for Jay-Z is unending, she sleeps less than most people and she wants to learn more, always.

Audrey K. Hulm

Audrey K. Hulm splits her time between Melbourne and the rest of the world, about half and half. She is an accomplished visual artist, having exhibited at the Monash Museum of Art, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art and Gertrude Contemporary Art Space, amongst others. She is an occasional curator and producer and has worked on a number of successful projects, such as the Positive Parks Project and Flux: You & Me at No Vacancy Gallery. A regular contributor to DAS Platforms, DayFour Magazine and Un Magazine, and now Lip, she burns the candle brightly at both ends in the hopes of crafting a brighter, smarter, better  future. See her blog here.

Emma Koehn

Emma spends her days studying writing, cinema and too many languages. Her nights are devoted to more frivolous pursuits, like eating crepes and dressing up in sombreros to form Mariachi bands. She likes to talk about politics more than is healthy, and can often be seen juggling caffeinated beverages and newspapers on public transport. Right now, she’s partial to hearing bizarre and beautiful tales and writing about them. If all goes well, this might even become her job. Mind maps are her idea of heaven.

Kaylia Payne

Kaylia is a career student who is currently doing her MA in Professional Writing. She likes tea, dancing, summer and singing out of tune. She hates the cold, which is unfortunate because she lives in chilly Canberra. She is opinionated about all political and social issues (some would say a little too much) and will remain forever uncool due to her unhealthy obsession with both college rock and cats. A student/office assistant by day and a blogger by night, she dreams of one day having a job where she doesn’t need to wear shoes to work.
Siobhan

I’ve been writing for lip since I discovered it on myspace going on three years ago. When I’m not spending time with my gamer husband or playing with our crazy cat, Lammy, I am either crocheting my heart out or trying to bond with my sewing machine, always with a cup of tea by my side. I am involved with a bunch of social justice activities and love doing things within my community. So far this year, I’ve completed one of my resolutions – learning how to flip a pancake. It’s going to be a good year!

 

Columnists

Freya Dougan-Whaite

Freya Dougan-Whaite is a writer, illustrator, and poet. Lip’s Culture Valkyrie is just like your regular Culture Vulture, but more magical and with claws. 

 

 

Sarah Berndt

Sara loves women. She is passionate about women living sexy and powerful lives. With a background in psychology and a love for the quirky, Sara hopes to have a rigorous and FUN conversation with you, dear reader. From values to vibrators, Sara wants to break down the social barriers that prevent us from talking about issues important to women. She believes in making decisions based on reflective conversations rather than adopting other people’s assumptions on how we “should” live. She has eaten a snickers bar at Mount Everest base camp, believes in BBC period dramas and has been known to narrate her life through song.

Sarina Murray

Sarina studies cinema and writing at the University of Melbourne, under their wankier titles ‘Cinema and Cultural Studies’ and ‘Media and Communications’. She likes almost anything ARTS, and can turn conversations to food faster than a nectarine stone will slide down her throat. Her pet peeve is movies that pass the Bechdel Test by a single thread. Or scene, as they’re called nowadays. Germaine Greer was the closest you got to a deity in her growing-up home. Snaps for Sarina’s mum!

Sarah Fortuna
Sarah has a respectable job at a university and feels a crushing sadness every time she wears a suit. In her spare time she maintains a blog and dreams about becoming a life coach. Read Sarah’s blog here.

 

 

 

Amy Miniter

The extent of Amy’s fickleness knows no apparent bounds. Currently the world’s greatest admirer of the substance known universally as ‘hummus’, she has worked her way steadily through a number of food obsessions over the past months, years and decades.Writing itself is also of supreme interest to her (as her ownership of a very handsome typewriter would indicate), a fact we are loath to neglect. Specifically, Amy likes words, how they interact with one another and their influence on the intended reader or audience. Interested in a career in communications, media and/or similar, she’s in her final year of a degree that unfortunately bares little resemblance to anything in the aforementioned lines of work. Not to be discouraged, she perceives this as an exciting challenge AND later a convenient excuse to move cities. Like most fellow-members of Gen-Y, she’s on twitter under an ingenious (Germanic sounding) pseudonym, @AmjMiniter.

Sophia Anna

Sophia Anna, a mix of Greek and South American, likes to entertain the idea of acting full time.  Having had the pleasure of performing in the Fringe and in venues like Star Theatre, she enjoys the heady rush associated with transforming into different characters onstage. Sophia first began her love affair with writing at the tender age of 7, when an old typewriter became a creative outlet, and since then she hopes to publish her fictional work but for now she’s content winning the odd award and writing articles for inspiring magazines like LIP. In her spare time, she loves nothing more than curling up with a bowl of chicken salad and a season of True Blood. You can find her blog, here. 

  Emma Jones

Emma is a writer, editor, radio presenter, feminist and blogger from Adelaide. She’s about to finish her Arts Degree and isn’t sure what will happen next. This worries her, because Emma likes plans. She also likes wine, pizza, the internet, Louis Theroux and her cat. You can find her blog at www.emmamariejones.com.

 

 Hannah Story

It’s rumoured that Hannah writes more than she sleeps. An aspiring novelist by day and an easily angered cultural critic by night, she spends her downtime watching Woody Allen movies, reading Anais Nin novels, and eating Indian food. Hannah is in her final year of a Writing and Cultural Studies degree, and currently edits the UTS student magazine, Vertigo and sub-edits Foke. She is always interning with everything from publishers to advertisers to events management companies, and writes articles, short fiction and blogs for many publications and businesses. Find her portfolio, i.e. links to more of her articles, here.

 Junene Taylor 

Junene is an outspoken and opinionated writer, blogger, editor and media enthusiast from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the founder and current Editor-in-chief of the Indiana University of Pennsylvania chapter of the online magazine HerCampus.com has been a lover of words since birth. She is a fan of feminism, food, and life-long learning. When she’s not pretending to write the next Great American Novel, Junene spends her time toying with the idea of going to grad school and entering the realm of public policy.

 

 

Shannon Clarke

Shannon is a writer and feminist from Toronto, Canada, currently chipping away at a journalism degree and economics minor. She discovered Lip on Twitter and has been contributing since August 2012. Her interests include news, social justice, pop culture, and intersectional feminist criticism. She is also a big fan of the Oxford comma.