My name is Oliver Shaw. I grew up in Central Queensland, Australia, and Tonga. I have lived in Melbourne for fifteen years, doing my practice. Having recently completed a PhD in Creative Writing, where I wrote memoir and developed a slow methodology for practicing I am now establishing myself as a freelance writer, artist, high-level workshop provider, performance maker and educator, in the big wide world. As you know, the world needs art, and I am here to make it AND to help you make it. I believe each individual human is an artist, that everyone is an artist. If you’ve forgotten that, I can help you remember.
Please feel free to contact me to ask any questions or get in touch about one of my services, here: olivereshaw@gmail.com
CURRICULUM VITAE
Dr Oliver Shaw
EDUCATION
2020 – 2024 Doctor of Philosophy (Creative Practice Research, Creative Writing)
RMIT University, Australia
Thesis Topic: ‘The Blue House/On Flower Time: A Slow Methodology for Experimental Life Writing’
Details: Four-year program (full-time). Creative artefact and exegesis 80, 000 words. In this creative
research project I wrote memoir and developed a slow methodology for creative writing
practice that is embodied and connected to the ecologies of the sea and plants and flowers.
Supervisors: Dr Bonny Cassidy and Prof David Carlin
2017 – 2019 Master of Fine Arts (Writing for Performance)
National Institute of Dramatic Art, Australia
Details: I wrote and produced a post-dramatic play titled ‘The Colour Blue is Yellow’.
2016 – 2017 First-Class Honours (Media and Communication, Poetics)
RMIT University, Australia
Thesis Topic: ‘Pink Impress/The Poetics of Objectivism’
Details: I made a creative artefact, as set of poems, and wrote an exegesis on the poetics of Objectivism.
Supervisor: Dr Bonny Cassidy
2012 – 2015 Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing)
AWARDS
- Highly Commended Deans Award for ‘Most Engaged PhD Candidate’, school of Media and Communication, RMIT University, Australia, 2024.
- My work ‘The Blue House’ (an excerpt from my PhD manuscript/artefact) was shortlisted/Highly Commended for the prestigious AAWP/Westerly Life Writing Award, 2024.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
- Graduate of the Interdisciplinary Research Program in Indigenous-Settler Relations, University of
Melbourne, 2022.
- Graduate of the Posthuman and New Materialism Summer School Course with Rosi Braidotti,
Utrecht, 2020.
- Participant in the Marina Abramović Institute ‘Cleaning the House’ workshop, 2019.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Jan 2025 – Current Co-Executive of the Australian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP)
Responsibilities: Work closely with the board of directors and others to facilitate the annual AAWP
Conference, which is the penultimate professional writing conference in Australia.
Feb 2025 – Current Tutor, ‘Diversity in Australian Writing’, Undergraduate Creative Writing Course
Swinburne University, Australia
Responsibilities: As the sole tutor for this core unit/creative writing major, and humanities-wide
elective, I am responsible for the learning of one hundred plus students, focusing on
diversity in Australian writing and encouraging students to write from this lens.
June 2024 – Nov 2024 Course Convenor, Lecturer and Tutor, ‘Engaging Audiences’, Masters’ course,
Swinburne University, Australia
Responsibilities: Write and deliver course content, delivering lectures and tutorials for Masters students
in the school of Media and Communication. Making original and engaging content.
June 2024 – Nov 2024 Tutor, ‘Research Laboratory’, Post-graduate course, Media and Communication
Honours, RMIT University, Australia
Responsibilities: As the sole teacher for the second semester of this Honours program I was responsible
for the learning of high-level students, where this course acts as a pathway to PhD.
June 2024 – Nov 2024 Tutor, ‘Literary Industry Practice’, Undergraduate Creative Writing Major Course
Swinburne University, Australia
Responsibilities: Teaching and facilitating industry internships for all students.
Feb 2023 – June 2024: Various tutoring roles: for ‘Writing, Reading and Criticism’ at Swinburne University;
‘Foundations’, a first-year Creative Writing Major Course at RMIT University;
‘Prose Poetics’ at Swinburne and guest lecturing for ‘Essay Project’, RMIT University.
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
September 2023 Review of: A Philosophy of Practicing With Deleuze’s Difference and Repetition,
Antonia Pont (2021) by Oliver Shaw.
Details: This review appears in Journal of Dance and Somatic Practices, Volume 15, Issue
Teaching Practising: Frameworks, Experiments, Conversations, June 2023, p. 137 –
140. ISSN: 1757-1871.
June 2023 Co-published peer review article for Sydney Review of Books, titled ‘Collaborative
effervescence through communitas’ with Ames Hawkins, Francesca Rendle-Short,
Peta Murray, Kim Munro, Melody Ellis and Brigid Magner.
Details: https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/essays/collaborative-effervescence-through-
communitas.
CONFERENCE/WORKSHOPS
- Presented Paper ‘On Flower Time: A Slow Methodology for Experimental Life Writing’ at the 29th Annual AAWP Conference, Australia, November 2024. This was my first presentation of my doctoral research, outside the university; I am currently preparing the paper for publication in 2025.
- Facilitated Workshop on ‘Writing and Visual Art’ at the 29th Annual AAWP Conference, Australia, November 2024. I read a paper on the connection between visual art and writing and then led a workshop where the participants engaged in the practice of drawing words slowly.
- Facilitated a ‘Writing and Visual Art’ workshop on the island of Anafi in Greece in October 2024. I facilitated this workshop with school students on the island of Anafi, in Greece, which is of course a very non-traditional research output; I am very interested in making my research accessible to all people.
- Presented ‘Writing and Visual Art’ workshop, hosted by the Non-fiction Lab, RMIT in July 2024. I Presented my research on the connection between writing and visual art to faculty staff.
- Presented with Julia Prendergast and Antonia Pont, a panel on Antonia Pont’s philosophy of practicing, at the 28th Annual AAWP Conference in November 2024.
- Presented with Neil Morris, Bonny Cassidy and Olivia Guntarick a panel titled ‘Resistance and Truth Telling Through Teaching and Learning Non-Fiction at the NonfictioNow Conference in July 2021.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
- ‘The blue house’ (an excerpt from my manuscript) published in Island 173, March 2025.
- I have also published poetry, essay and review in places like Rabbit Poetry Journal and Cordite.
OTHER (MULTI-DISCIPLINARY) CREATIVE OUTPUTS
- I have produced paintings for group shows ‘Centrepiece’ and ‘Flourish’ at Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne, 2024.
- I presented ‘Chair’ – a new performance work I wrote/performed – at Temperance Hall in Melbourne 2024.
- I presented a set of paintings, collaborating with photographer Woody Gooch, at Diginner Gallery in Tokyo, 2024.
- I presented a solo show of paintings and ceramics, titled ‘Unsettling’ at Brunswick Street Gallery in Melbourne, 2022.
- My play ‘The Colour Blue is Yellow’ premiered at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney in 2018.
- I presented my play ‘I’ as part of La Mama Theatre in Melbourne’s 2015 Winter Season, which I wrote and performed to sell-out audiences.
REFEREES
Writer and Associate Professor, Dr Julienne Van Loon, University of Melbourne. Please contact Julienne here: Juliennev@unimelb.edu.au
Writer and Associate Professor, Dr Julia Prendergast, Swinburne University. Please contact Julia here: jpredergast@swin.edu.au
Dr Oliver Shaw 