After running up a HECS debt and paying it off in a non-related career, Melissa has decided to make use of her critical thinking and word smithing skills more often. She finds inspiration in things that frustrate her with the world.
Spending her days with Instructional Design work in Melbourne, Melissa loves returning to her early Victorian home in Ballarat to make jam, preserve home grown fruit and plan her next travel adventure. Melissa volunteers for Ballarat Writers Inc, writes her own blog at www.melissawatts.net and tweets @MelissaAWatts.
March 8 is International Women's Day, and every year people from all over the world celebrate it in their own way.
International Women's Day began in 1911, spurred by a National Women's day that began in the United States of America two years earlier. Last year the event was celebrated in 100 count
This week the Art Gallery of Ballarat launched the Sir Cecil Beaton exhibition to commemorate Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee.
Dispersed between the photographs are copies of letters written to Beaton from the royal family, and an audio visual display. These assist the viewer to get a cohesive sens
"GIRLS as young as 11 are committing suicide at an unprecedented rate in Northern Territory indigenous communities."
"that girls now account for a previously unheard of 40 per cent of all suicides of children under the age of 17."
"Aboriginal women are being hospitalised for assault at 80 times th
Ex Parenthesis is a new creative writing journal of short stories, poems, pictures, sketches and reviews to be published quarterly. It will feature the work of local writers and artists, both published and undiscovered.
It’s not until you witness or experience it firsthand that you remember just how important it is. Nurses, paramedics and emergency services are worth their weight in gold. It is easy to imagine that the Ghost of Christmas Future might show that if these workers continue in tough conditions we
The Ballarat Mechanics' Institute sits proudly in the centre of the city, but what do you really know about it? Melissa Watts discovers that inside the old building is a hive of activity.
On the 157th anniversary of the Eureka Stockade, Melissa Watts explores the current state of freedom of speech in Australia. Prompted by a local event with guest speaker Professor Spencer Zifcak, Melissa asks if free speech is being eroded or are we just spoilt?
The Victorian Government has decided to cut $481 million dollars out of the VCAL budget over the next 4 years. Melissa Watts explains the potential impact of these cuts and why it matters.
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