Dr Cassandra Atherton will judge the joanne burns Microlit Award at the 2017 Newcastle Writers Festival, and invites submissions. The closing date is 31 August 2017.

Dr Atherton is an award winning writer and critic from Melbourne, Australia who is currently a Senior Lecturer in Literary Studies & Professional and Creative Writing at Deakin University. She completed her MA and PhD at the University of Melbourne. One of Australia’s leading experts on public intellectuals in academe and a specialist on Gwen Harwood’s poetry, Cassandra is also an accomplished interviewer.  Her awards include a Felix Meyer scholarship to travel to Tokyo and study the Floating World; the Mary Schroeder award for her interview with Howard Zinn; a Blanc Literary award for best experimental debut novel and numerous teaching awards, which allowed her to travel to New Orleans to research hurricane boxes.