Gippsland Writers Network (GWN) Inc

Gippsland Writers Network is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit incorporated entity established in 2016 that connects writers with other writers, and to various writing events, competitions and opportunities. The team at GWN aims to provide a central contact point for writers and writers groups across Eastern Victoria, and our Writers Victoria membership helps us provide workshop opportunities to rural areas.

Due to the geographical size of Gippsland, GWN is mainly an online entity, but we also offer face-to-face writing events and activities when possible. We are proud to support the annual Latrobe Literary Festival and are always looking for new opportunities to connect with our members across the region.

Our Team

Our volunteers are the lifeblood of the network, working to run events, maintain our online and offline presence, and connect writers with each other across the region.

Vicky Daddo (President) lives in Hazelwood South, in the Latrobe Valley. She writes short fiction and novels.

Her stories have appeared in The Big Issue Fiction Special, Award Winning Australian Writing, Women’s Day, That’s Life and other anthologies. She has won or been placed in competitions including the Rachel Funari Prize for Fiction, The Hope Prize, the Scarlet Stilettos and the FAW National Literary Awards. In 2021, she reached the last 50 of the NYC Midnight Short Story Contest, from a starting field of more than 6000 entrants.

In 2014 she won a place on the QWC/Hachette Manuscript Development program with her contemporary romance manuscript ‘Que Sera Sera’. In 2018, she received a women’s writing scholarship through The Hope Prize. In 2021 her YA timeslip manuscript ‘A Matter of Time’ was longlisted for the Adaptable program.

Vicky is a Writers Victoria Regional Ambassador for Gippsland. She occasionally tutors creative writing, and programs the Latrobe Literary Festival.

Last year, she finished her seventh novel, a YA Supernatural Horror that she is planning to submit for publication. Her current work in progress is a YA Magical Realism/Fairy Tale.

Tash Agafonoff (Treasurer/Secretary) lives in the Latrobe Valley with her partner, one dog, two cats, five chickens and six alpacas. But just be clear, only she, her partner and the cats live in the house. She writes personal essays, memoir, and poetry—and many, many lists.

When she’s not writing, Tash is busy powering Victoria in her role as an operator at the Yallourn Power Station, while she herself is powered by coffee.

In 2020, she won the Grace Marion Wilson Emerging Writers Competition for her non-fiction essay, Sexy Nails, which was published in the October-November edition of The Victorian Writer magazine. And, she was recently longlisted for The Richell Prize for Emerging Writers 2021; a partnership between Hachette Australia, the Richell family, and the Emerging Writers’ Festival, for her memoir-in-progress about marriage, mental health, and the breakdown of both. Her other work has appeared on the Overland Literary Journal and Writers Victoria websites.

Tash begins far too many sentences with conjunctions, likes to procrastinate by taking writing workshops instead of actually writing, and owns more notebooks than one person should ever be permitted. You can find her on Instagram @tashagafonoff and, very occasionally her blog, www.snippetsandglimpses.com/

Karen Howie Casey (promotions) is a journalist, copywriter and author. She has worked for newspapers and magazines around Australia and overseas, and her first contemporary fiction novel was longlisted for the Australian Vogel Literary Award. She has indie published a travel memoir and two children’s books, which raise money for Aussie Helpers. With the support of a Regional Arts Victoria, Karen is working on the third and final children’s book, and another contemporary fiction novel.

You can find more about Karen at https://karencaseyauthor.com/ or on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-n-casey/.