Bundanon

The South Coast Writers Centre (SCWC) Emerging & Established Writers Group retreat includes writers working in fiction, creative non-fiction, playwriting, and poetry.

The 2025 SCWC Bundanon Residents are- Alyssa Montgomery, Susie Fagan, Caroline Baum, Ryan Butta, Megan Cartwright, Belinda Lopez and Linda Albertson with South Coast Writers Centre Director, Sarah Nicholson .

Alyssa Montgomery
Alyssa Montgomery is a multi-published, USA Today bestselling contemporary and medieval romance author. She has presented fiction writing courses at the South Coast Writers Centre.

Susie Fagan
Originally from Ireland, Susie Fagan is a writer and performer. Susie wrote and performed a solo show at the 2023 Sydney Fringe Festival, completed the 2024 Playwrights Program at SCWC, and in 2025/26 will work with Merrigong Theatre to develop a solo show that will incorporate comedy writing, poetry and storytelling.

Caroline Baum
Caroline Baum is a communicator, storyteller, advocate, moderator, journalist, curator, podcaster and author. She works in all digital and traditional media. In 2017 her memoir, ONLY: A Singular Memoir, was published by Allen and Unwin. In 2015, she was awarded the Hazel Rowley Fellowship for memoir and biography. Caroline writes and presents a podcast about biography, Life Sentences, which she has used as part of her research for her current book project. She also writes about social and cultural issues in various media including for The Guardian Australia and Good Weekend.

Ryan Butta
Ryan Butta ‘s first book, The Ballad of Abdul Wade, cast a critical eye on the nation’s foundational myths through the previously untold story of the Afghan men that came to Australia in the 1800s for work in the mining and wool industries. It was shortlisted for the South Australian Literary Awards Nonfiction Book of the Year 2024. His latest work, The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli, examined themes of racial equality and memory though the remarkable life story of Harry Freame, a Japanese-Australian adventurer, Anzac, orchardist and spy. Ryan’s works of non-fiction look to explode national myths to reveal and understand the hidden and forgotten stories of Australia. He believes that only by dismantling the myths of the past can we build the country of the future.

Megan Cartwright
Megan Cartwright is a college English/Lit/Drama teacher who has had poems published in print and online in Australia and overseas, including The Augur, Contemporary Verse 2, Cordite Poetry Review, Island Magazine, The Sunlight Press, Quadrant and Verandah Literary Magazine. In 2024 she won the Matthew Rocca Poetry Prize and was shortlisted for the Jean Stone Poetry Competition, Red Room Poetry’s Poem Forest – Accredited Teacher category, the Plough Prize, and Northwind Writing Award. In 2023 Megan won the ACT Litlinks Teachers as Writers for her short story ‘Cicada Season’ and was shortlisted for the Hexham Poetry Prize and Lane Cove Literary Awards.

Belinda Lopez
Belinda Lopez is a Spanish-Australian writer, documentary maker, journalist and anthropologist, and her award-winning audio documentaries and creative non-fiction have explored history, human rights and democracy worldwide. She is a fellow at Macquarie University and holds a PhD in creative writing based on anthropological and historical research with West Papuan communities in Indonesia. Her writing, documentaries and collaborations have been shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award, the Australian Human Rights Awards, the Kennedys, the Walkley Awards and the Amnesty Media Awards. Belinda’s work has won prizes from the New York Festivals, the United Nations, the AWGIEs, the Gabriels, the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival, among others.

Linda Albertson
Linda Albertson is an emerging poet. She observes the world around her, the people she encounters and daily minutiae.  Through her poetry, Linda connects with people and allows others into her world to see who she is. She writes sincere, down-to-earth personal narratives exploring relationships, memory and the interplay of time.