Fancy a room of one’s own to work on a project? A room with a view? SCBWI QLD members have the remarkable opportunity to undertake a creative residency in a most unusual place - a lighthouse!
The Lighthouse
Caloundra is a beach holiday town situated at the southern end of the Sunshine Coast. It boasts two lighthouses, an historic 1896 structure and a 1965 signal tower. Both have been decommissioned but remain popular with local history buffs and tourists.
The signal room in the tower sports glorious 360° views to the Glasshouse Mountains, the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Moreton Island, the Pacific, and long stretches of coastline to the north. The space includes everything a creator could need—inspirational views, solitude, a sturdy desk, a kettle, and a loo.
The Residency
A creative residency provides a creator with dedicated time and space to work on a project of their choice. The change of scenery minimises mundane distractions while administering a tonic to boost creative flow. Most of all, a residency—the gift of space and time—affirms the artist and the importance of their work to the community.
SCBWI QLD is grateful to the Sunshine Coast Council and the Friends of the Caloundra Lighthouses for making this opportunity possible and recognising the valuable work of the creators of children’s literature.
The Sunshine Coast Lighthouse Residents:
Kristy Bushnell an editor, bibliophile and mother to one sweet child. Based on the Sunshine Coast, she loves promoting children’s and young adult literature in school and public libraries. She is currently writing her first young adult verse novel while drinking copious amounts of tea.
Christine Cornwell has a background in medicine and law. She retired to Queensland in 2018 after 35 years in Canberra where her writing was confined to medical and legal reports. Retirement liberated a long dormant passion for writing but she is still trying to find her genre. Having tried fantasy and historical fiction she is currently working on her first middle grade novel – an adventure story set in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Cindy Darabi is an emerging children’s author and illustrator from the small town of Maleny on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. After almost two decades of telling stories for young people through performance and circus, Cindy is following the call deeper into the world of story via the written word. Cindy has written her first picture book and is currently working on a middle grade fiction featuring a resilient and feisty young female protagonist that she can't wait to explore in the lighthouse.
Caroline Magerl was born near Frankfurt in Germany and came to Australia when she was two. She lived on the yacht her family built until she was fourteen. In 2001 Caroline won the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) Crichton Award for new talent in children's book illustration for her picture book Grandma's Shoes (written by Libby Hathorn). Since then she has been awarded two May Gibbs Fellowships and her latest picture book Nop was a CBCA honour book.
Ali Stegert is focusing on advancing her writing career and building creative community After retiring from a rewarding career in school counselling and moving to the Sunshine Coast,. Her picture book Boogie Woogie Bird debuts in March 2022, and her middle grade historical-espionage-adventure The Remarkables will be published in 2023 by Chicken House Books. Ali is the ARA (assistant regional advisor) for SCBWI QLD.
