AustLit

Mij grew up at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley. Her first novel, she says, was written at the age of ten, and was lovingly typed and bound by her father - all 15 pages of it. She studied Arts and gained a BA, then took up teaching. Her interest in writing for the theatre erupted in 1983 when she co-wrote and performed in 'Into the Eighties - Our Schools Do It On Purpose', a Women in Education revue. It continued with a second revue, 'Onward to Glory', the following year, after which she decided to resign from her permanent teaching position to devote more time to writing. Her first serious play, 'Blind Circumstance', was first produced by the Griffin Theatre Co in Sydney in 1985, and her next play 'Just Write', on Adult Literacy, was very successful. She wrote three Theatre in Education plays for Patch Theatre in the late '80s. What she calls her 'most interesting non-success to date' is 'Scarlett Alliance', a piece of musical theatre on the politics of prostitution, written after research and collaboration with members of the Prostitutes Association of SA. This has had to be put aside for the present. As well as her writing she has worked part-time as an English as a Second Language teacher, taught Creative Writing and Women's Writing at the Barker College of TAFE, and run occasional weekend writing workshops.