Kelly Gardiner

President.

Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction, fantasy and crime fiction for all ages.

Her latest series is The Firewatcher Chronicles and her other books include 1917, shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize; Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, both shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards; and the Swashbuckler pirate trilogy.

Goddess, a novel based on the life of the queer, sword-fighting cross-dressing opera star, Mademoiselle de Maupin, is being adapted for the screen.

Kelly is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at La Trobe University. She served as a convenor in 2019-2020.

Lindy Cameron

Vice President. Interstate Liaison.

An independent publisher and crime writer, Lindy is author of the Kit O’Malley PI trilogy Blood Guilt, Bleeding Hearts and Thicker Than Water; the archaeological mystery Golden Relic; the action thriller Redback; and the sf crime Feedback.

She’s co-author, with Fin J Ross, of the true crime collections: Toxic: Cold-blooded Australian Murders; and Killer in the Family.

Lindy’s had the great honour of co-writing two short stories with Kerry Greenwood. Both feature Harriet Brookes: ‘A Wild Colonial’ for Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook and ‘The Saltwater Battle’ for War of the Worlds: Battleground Australia.

She is also the Editor of Who Sleuthed It? an anthology of crime fiction featuring an international cast of writers and starring a host of animal sleuths.

Lindy is a founding member of Sisters in Crime Australia, and the Publisher of Clan Destine Press.

Carmel Shute

Chair, Programming and Events Committee

Carmel is the inimitable powerhouse behind Sisters in Crime, but we couldn’t possibly place her way down an alphabetical list (although she assures us she doesn’t mind) so we are breaking with convention and listing our fabulous convenors in order of convening years.

Carmel helped found Sisters in Crime Australia in 1991 and has been a national convenor ever since. She was inspired by the new wave of feminist crime writers, including Sara Paretsky who founded Sisters in Crime in 1986 at Bouchercon, the premier US crime writing convention. Carmel loves the combination of politics, suspense, good writing and fun that women’s crime writing and Sisters in Crime has brought to her life.

Carmel is an historian by trade, has worked as a union organiser at the ABC, and a media officer in local government and the trade union movement. She runs her own PR business Shute the Messenger. Carmel currently holds the position of Secretary.

Lesley Gillis

Treasurer

Lesley holds a Bachelor of Business with a major in Accounting. She has worked in a few industries (i.e. banking, confectionary, legal and the trucking industry) during her working life prior to taking her undergraduate degree and joining the public service. She is now a retired public servant and has recently moved back to Melbourne from Canberra where she spent most of her public service life. In her last job she managed a budget of $1.4 billion.

Lesley has been a keen horse rider, dressage judge and competition organiser, and still attends some large international competitions. For 25 years she was treasurer of the ACT Dressage Association and the National Capital Equestrian Association.

From an early age she cut her reading teeth on the old Mistresses of Crime – Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh and Marjory Allingham – and some American crime fiction notably Rex Stout and Raymond Chandler. She also reads science fiction, fantasy and travel memoirs. She has no intentions of ever writing a novel, preferring to enjoy others’ stories.