Maureen is a freelance writer, poet, editor, photographer, digital media artist and event organiser. She has vast writer-in-the-community experience and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing, which she completed at Edith Cowan University, with some of her studies undertaken at Murdoch University and Flinders University.

She completed an intense four month mentorship (writing, researching, critiquing and workshopping of haiku for publication) with mentor, John Bird in 2007, and is currently the HaikuOz WA Regional Representative. She was a co-founder of WA Poets Inc, the annual WA Spring Poetry Festival, Creative Connections Art and Poetry exhibitions, and Walking on Water readings. Her poetry and haiku have been widely published internationally and nationally. She has also had success in national poetry competitions, and many of her short stories, articles and reviews have also been published.

She is involved in organising local poetry and art exhibitions. She was the WA state co-ordinator for National Poetry Week in 2006. Maureen has been a regular guest reader at venues around Perth and Adelaide since 1995. She has also organised many readings in WA.

June Perkins is a freelance writer, emerging photographer, avid blogger,and flickr participant (she administers some photo sharing groups such as celebrate Dad and gumboots for peace). Her work can be found in many journals and magazines including Aboriginal History Journal, Etchings (Ilura Press) Heyday arts on line, SideWalk, Talking Ink From Ochre, New England Review and Bahai publications in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. More of her work may be found at the blog www.pearlzocreativity.wordpress.com, which includes links to her installation projects such as gumboots4peace and her photographic sites.

She enjoys workshopping and writing poetry with and inspired by other people. She is currently working on publishing a full collection of poetry especially for children [Koalas Dance- is its working title] and writing fiction for youth readers. She is the coordinator of Licuala writers as well as secretary of the Cassowary Region Arts Council Association inc (CRACA) which is the umbrella organization for the Ripple poetry week events and project in Cardwell which has been funded by a RADF grant.

Janine McGinness-Whyte thinks poetry is mighty sexy, but given the choice would probably run away with Tex Perkins rather than William Blake (especially since the latter is dead). At the beginning of this century Janine organised events with Geelong Writers Inc., including her hatchling, 'Words at the Gallery'.

In recent years she has teamed with Brendan Ryan to produce some fabulous events at the pub in Portarlington (where punters could hear great poetry, sip a drink on the balcony and enjoy views of Port Phillip Bay). In 2007 these readings moved to the Bush Inn, Geelong, where our National Poetry Week event will be happening. We always try to combine the readings with a little music it seems a natural mix. Janine enjoys writing poetry, short stories and songs, and does some editing/publishing (usually for community publications) under the moniker of Kinross Productions.