Paula Wilson’s website says she is 60 something going on 10, that she seeks out pirate treasure and searches for dragons with her two grandsons at her side. Then she writes down her adventures for other ten year olds to share. The grandsons don’t go on those quests as much anymore but she continues to seek out adventure while traveling around Victoria in her caravan.
Paula joined the Society of Women Writers Victoria in the mid 1990’s while studying Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT and has been an active member ever since.
While still studying she attended a gathering of 400 women for the magazine Karios. The former Premier of Victoria Joan Kirner was a guest speaker and said ‘For a claim on the future there must be an understanding of our achievements in the past, the names of men live on and women become lost.’ These words had a profound impact on Paula and from that day on she set out to discover the lost stories of Australian women in history. These stories have been published in magazines and online.
Paula worked for over 20 years with adults who have intellectual disabilities, teaching literacy and computers. Those she worked with did not judge a person’s ability which gave her the confidence to start conducting writing workshops which has now transferred over to online groups.
In recent years Paula has taken up distance running and a lot of her story ideas come and are developed while she is plodding along tracks around Melbourne. One day she will write about her running journey.
PUBLICATIONS
Short stories in the following anthologies:
Sparx, Fault Lines, What an Adventure, Gift of a Casserole and Other Deadly Sins, Climb the Mountain, Readers Paradise, Short and Twisted, The Umbrella’s Shade, Danger, Swag of Tales, The Envelope Please, Random Writers, Unruly Writers, Bitter Black & Sweet.
Short Stories and articles in the following magazines:
The Dawn, Grass Roots, The NSW’s Schools Magazines Orbit, Touchdown, Readers World, Kairos
COMPETITIONS
Winner, the Margaret Hazzard Award
Commended, the Mary Grant Bruce Award (twice)
Won and placed in a number of Society of Women Writers Victoria Awards