About

Stephanie Eslake is a freelance Tasmanian writer and editor. Need words? Reach out.

Stephanie Eslake is an award-winning writer and editor. Based in Tasmania, she works freelance and is passionate about communicating the arts.

In 2021, Stephanie Eslake was awarded an Arts Tasmania grant to write a new book for arts practitioners, and an APRA AMCOS 2021 Art Music Award (Luminary Award) for CutCommon. Most recently, she has been named a finalist for Best Gaming Journalist in the 2023 Samsung Australian IT Journalism Awards.

Stephanie Eslake founded CutCommon in 2014 with a vision to create an inclusive community for arts practitioners in Australia. The niche publication awarded her the City of Hobart Australia Day 2017 Young Citizen of the Year Award for her “community contribution by creating an online promotional and educational network for young Australian classical musicians”. It was also shortlisted for the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award, placing it as one of the top 10 classical music industry projects across the globe.

Stephanie was the inaugural 2017 Kill Your Darlings New Critic Award winner, won the 2018 Tasmanian Young Achiever Awards (Arts), and was shortlisted for the 2017 Kat Muscat Fellowship. In 2020, she was selected for the Island Magazine residency project If These Halls Could Talk, a collaboration with the 2021 Ten Days on the Island Festival.

Stephanie has attended the Australian Youth Orchestra Words About Music program, and graduated from the University of Tasmania with degrees in Musicology; Sociology; and Journalism, Media, and Communications. She also has certificates in broadcast operation and microbusiness management.

You may have read Stephanie’s journalism in The Guardian, Meanjin, The Mercury, and SBS (you can see a full list of her publication credits below). Stephanie also writes academic course content in writing, editing, and entrepreneur subject areas for educational institution Foundry (partners: University of Tasmania, Swinburne University of Technology).

The writer co-founded Upbeat Monthly News for the University of Tasmania’s Conservatorium of Music, has written program notes for Musica Viva as well as Queensland and Tasmanian state orchestras, hosted features on Edge Radio 99.3 and ABC Classic FM, and worked in live broadcast production with Tasmanian State Parliament. In 2015, she spent time as acting editor and lead writer for The Mercury’s music publication Pulse.

The classical saxophonist has tutored woodwind in schools across Hobart, worked as co-editor and publications mentor for Hobart City Council’s Platform youth arts and culture magazine, and was part of the Making Waves’ Making Conversation interview team.

She is also a grants assessment panellist on the Tasmanian Department of State Growth’s Cultural and Creative Industries Expert Register, and was selected for the ARIA Awards Voting Academy, the APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards judging panel, Tasmanian Literary Awards panel, and the Australian Women in Music Awards Juror Council.

She is addicted to fuelled by coffee.

Services

Stephanie offers high-level services in the following areas:

Publication credits (journalism)

Stephanie has worked as a journalist for close to 10 years, with a focus on the Australian arts industry. You may have seen her feature stories, news articles, reviews, columns, and Q&As published in:

• CutCommon (founding editor)
• The Guardian
• Island
• Meanjin
• The Mercury
• SBS
• The Herald Sun
• Mamamia
• Limelight Magazine
• Junkee
• The Music
• Crikey
• ArtsHub (ArtsHub UK, ScreenHub)
• GamesHub
• Aphra Magazine
• The Courier Mail
• The Daily Telegraph
• RendezView
• Adelaide Now
• Young Opportunities Australia
• Perth Now
• Level and Gain (founding editor)
• TasWeekend (former staff writer)
• Warp Magazine (former subeditor and reviews editor)
• Platform Magazine (former co-editor and publications mentor)

Corporate content

Stephanie is a copywriter and editor, and outside her arts journalism she produces marketing and communication content for individuals and organisations. Stephanie produces website content, press releases, educational content, and more. Some recent clients include:

• Canva
• Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
• Ten Days on the Island Festival
• Queensland Symphony Orchestra
• Melbourne Recital Centre
• MLC Insurance
• RACT Insurance
• Cult Copy
• 3MBS Fine Music Melbourne
• Melba Opera Trust
• Musica Viva Australia
• Foundry
• Frogmore Creek Wines
• Symphony Services International
• Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Industry awards and achievements

• 2021: APRA AMCOS Art Music Award (Luminary Award) for CutCommon
• 2021: Arts Tasmania awards grant for Stephanie to produce her first book, A Writer’s Guide to the Arts.
• 2020-2021: Selected for Island Magazine and Ten Days on the Island Festival residency project, If These Halls Could Talk
• 2018: Won Tasmanian Young Achiever of the Year Award (Arts)
• 2017: Named City of Hobart Australia Day Young Citizen of the Year
• 2017: Won the inaugural Kill Your Darlings New Critic Award
• 2017: Tasmanian Young Achiever of the Year Awards – Finalist (Arts)
• 2017: Shortlisted for the international Classical:NEXT Innovation Award (for CutCommon, placing it as one of the top 10 classical music initiatives in the world)
• 2017: Shortlisted for the Kat Muscat Fellowship
• 2016: Tasmanian Young Achiever of the Year Awards – Semi-finalist (Arts)
• 2016: Guest speaker at University of Melbourne MCMIgniteLab
• 2015: Winner: Young Opportunities Australia/Penguin Random House Writing Competition
• 2008: Win TV Award Student of the Year