Leni Shilton Explained

Leni Shilton is a poet, teacher and researcher based in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.[1]

Biography

Shilton grew up in Papua New Guinea and Melbourne, Australia. She moved to Alice Springs in 1985 to the region to work as a remote-area nurse and health educator but has since taught creative writing at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education.[2] [3] She has also worked at NPY Women's Council as an education researcher.[4]

Shilton's poetry has been included in a number of anthologies, journals and broadcast radio and in 2018, she published her first book Walking with camels: the story of Bertha Strehlow through University of Western Australia Publishing, developed from her creative writing PhD, Giving silence its voice: uncovering Bertha Strehlow's voice through poetry.[5] It was a finalist in the Northern Territory History Book Awards.

Shilton's second book, Malcolm : a story in verse, was published in 2019 and it is set in Melbourne's underbelly and centres around Malcolm, a 17 year old boy, with a difficult and violent upbringing.

Shilton is also a founding member of Ptilotus Press, a community publisher in Alice Springs, which is managed by a collective of local writers.[1]

Awards and honours

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Leni Shilton · The Stella Prize. The Stella Prize. en-US. 2019-11-10.
  2. Web site: Leni Shilton. NT Writers' Centre. en-US. 2019-11-10.
  3. Web site: Leni Shilton: (author/organisation) AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. www.austlit.edu.au. 2019-11-10.
  4. Web site: Strengthening Community Capacity to End Violence. 2017. NPY Women’s Council. 2020-05-18.
  5. Web site: Strehlow Centre great legacy. 2015-04-21. www.ntnews.com.au. en. 2020-01-17.
  6. Web site: Northern Territory Literary Awards - Past winners Library & Archives NT . 2022-06-01 . lant.nt.gov.au.
  7. Web site: Leni Shilton. UWA Publishing. 2020-01-17.