Scissors Paper Pen is an award-winning literary collective, founded in 2011 with the support of a Write in Your Face grant from Express Media. The collective was conceptualised by Rosanna Stevens, and developed with the support of Duncan Felton, James Fahy, Adelaide Rief and Lucy Nelson. Since its earliest events, Scissors Paper Pen has worked with a vision to support young and emerging writers under the age of 35 in the ACT region.

The collective holds a strong belief in writers from the ACT and surrounds, and offer a space for writers to grow their voices by presenting opportunities for development, networks and publication. Scissors Paper Pen was the 2011 and 2012 Winner of Express Media’s best new project or work by a young person or young people in the ACT, and the recipient of a 2013 Canberra Critics Circle Award.

Who We Are

Abra Pressler

Abra Pressler writes from her home in Canberra, Australia, and has been writing in some form or another since she was twelve. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing – Screenwriting) from RMIT University. From 2012 – 2015, she edited fiction for GORE journal and has been widely published both in print and online.

In 2018, Abra was elected as a Board Director for the ACT Writer’s Centre, where she continues to advocate for writing and supports writers to further their craft. Abra has a particular interest in adult learning and development and when not writing, she works in Project Management and enjoys good coffee.

Kaylia Payne

Kaylia is a career student who is currently undertaking her PhD in creative writing through Southern Cross University. She likes tea, dancing, summer and singing out of tune. She hates the cold, which is unfortunate because she lives in chilly Canberra. Kaylia was News Editor for Lip Magazine in 2015, and her short stories have been published in Tincture Journal, fourW, and the 2017 Grieve print anthology.

She is also the founder of the (imaginatively titled) Canberra Writers group and will remain forever uncool due to her unhealthy obsession with both Harry Potter and cats. A public servant by day and a writer by night, Kaylia dreams of one day having a job where she doesn’t need to wear shoes to work.

Prior Pen People

Alice Grundy (Storytelling)

Andrew Galan (Poetry, Debate)

Anthony Eaton (Panel)

Ashley Orr (Storytelling)

Bronwen Manger (Poetry)

The Burley Griffin (Music)

Cara Foster (Storytelling)

Cathy Petocz (Music)

Chris Endrey (Debate)

Daddy Issues artists (Live Art)

David Henley (Panel)