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Dr Kate Cantrell

Dr Kate Cantrell
Name Kate Cantrell
Pronoun She/Her/Hers
Position Senior Lecturer (Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
Section School of Creative Arts
Office A218
Location Toowoomba Campus
Phone +61 7 4631 1055
Extension 1055
Email
Qualifications BCI(Hons) QUT , PGDipELTA Oxford , PhD QUT
Homepage http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kate-Cantrell
The views expressed on staff homepages may not reflect the views of the University.

Kate Cantrell is an award-winning writer, editor, and poet, working at the intersection of creative writing, mobility studies, and social justice. Her research specialisation is contemporary accounts of wandering and narrative representations of illness, immobility, and displacement, with a special focus on KidLit and ZitLit (children's and young adult literature). She has published over 70 journal articles, conference papers, book chapters, features, and essays, as well as industry articles in high-profile outlets such as The Sunday Mail, The Conversation, and Times Higher Education. Her short stories, creative non-fiction, and poetry appear in highly-esteemed magazines and journals such as Overland, Meanjin, Westerly, Island, Hecate, Meniscus, Axon, and Cordite Poetry Review, among others. The first Arts researcher in Queensland to be awarded a Smart Futures Fellowship, Kate's research has attracted external funding and often draws media interest. She has produced commissioned output for community organisations such as Surf Life Saving Australia; government bodies such as Tourism Queensland; and NGOs such as UNANIMA International. She has also consulted on global campaigns at the United Nations, where she continues to build globally significant partnerships through her arts advocacy. At present, Kate is the Special Issues Editor of TEXT, Australia’s leading journal in writing and publishing, and the Associate Editor (Literature) of Queensland Review, a leading journal in Australian studies and the only academic journal devoted entirely to multi-disciplinary Queensland scholarship. An experienced teacher, Kate has taught at top universities in Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom, and she has an established record of teaching excellence in both Creative Writing and Literature, and Editing and Publishing. She has a collection of national and international teaching awards and grants, and has an emerging reputation as an expert in trauma-informed practice. In 2019 and 2020, Kate was awarded consecutive teaching and learning citations for building reading resilience through trauma-informed pedagogy (2020) and supporting professional learning through student partnership (2019).


  • Creative Writing (incl. Playwriting) ( 190402 )
  • Australian Literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Literature) ( 200502 )
  • Creative Writing (incl. Scriptwriting) ( 360201 )
  • Australian Literature (excl. Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Literature) ( 470502 )
  • Literary Studies ( 470500 )
  • Creative And Professional Writing ( 360200 )
  • Culture ( 470208 )
  • Screen And Media Culture ( 470214 )
  • Childrens Literature ( 470506 )
  • Cultural Studies ( 470200 )

Writing for social justice; arts advocacy, contemporary travel writing and memoir; narrative representations of wandering; stories of illness, immobility, and displacement; trauma; creative writing pedagogy; first-year experience and engagement.


Australian Society of Authors (ASA)
Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP)
Australian Federation of Graduate Women (AFGW)
Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association (AWGSA)
Queensland Writers Centre (QWC)


Special Issues Associate Editor - TEXT (2020-)
Judge - Bruce Dawe Poetry Prize (2021)
Judge - Macintyre Writers Award (2019-)
Australian Delegate – CSW60, United Nations (2016)
Heinrich Böll Writer-in-Residence (2016)
Stiwdio Maelor Writer-in-Residence (2015)
Katharine Susannah Prichard Writer-in-Residence (2012)
Australian Delegate – UNANIMA International, United Nations (2012)


  • Institute for Resilient Regions (IRR)
  • Centre for Health, Informatics and Economic Research (CHIER)

SCA1002 Introduction to Creative and Critical Thinking
PUB5001 Introduction to Editing and Publishing
PUB5002 Writing for Editors
PUB5003 Editing in Practice
PUB5004 Professional Practice in Editing and Publishing
PUB5005 Book Design and Production Management
PUB8001 Magazine Publishing Project


12 Years


2 Years


Digital Engagement Coordinator (Engagement and International), School of Humanities and Communication
ECR Representative (Learning and Teaching), School of Humanities and Communication
ECR Representative (Research), School of Humanities and Communication


  • Creative Writing (incl. Playwriting) ( 190402 )
  • Australian Literature (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Literature) ( 200502 )
  • Creative Writing (incl. Scriptwriting) ( 360201 )
  • Australian Literature (excl. Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Literature) ( 470502 )
  • Literary Studies ( 470500 )
  • Creative And Professional Writing ( 360200 )
  • Culture ( 470208 )
  • Screen And Media Culture ( 470214 )
  • Childrens Literature ( 470506 )
  • Cultural Studies ( 470200 )