Bio – Jackey Coyle

– author
– freelance writer & editor
– writing tutor & mentor
– artist, botanical art & travel sketchbooks; solo exhibition 2024
– radio presenter, music & music writing, PBS106.7FM

At the moment, I’m …
– savouring Melbourne’s delectable food scene
– drawing the amazing Arabian starflower
– packing my bags for next weekend’s Echuca Moama winter blues festival
– thinking about my next radio segment on 19 August – Memphis, Tennessee, the unofficial capital of the Delta – browsing through Oxford American’s first city-focused music issue, published in 2024

Qualifications – Master of Arts (Writing & Literature), Deakin University; Certificate 4 (Training)
Member – Institute of Professional Editors and Writers Victoria

Wordy-Gurdy morphed out of freelance music–travel–lifestyle writing, editing and proofreading, with major clients Rhythms magazine (1998–2004) and Lonely Planet (2003–13). We published Indian Summers: Mumbai and beyond by Ian Cochrane in 2011.
I was headhunted by Summit Publishing as founding editor of business magazines Strategic Super Investor and Inside Small Business (later sold to Octomedia).
Our publisher client list for writing, researching and editing includes Black Inc., Bonnier Publishing Australia, Burnet Institute, Deakin University, Lonely Planet, Major Street Publishers, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Octomedia, Wild Dingo Press, John Wiley & Sons and Wilkinson Publishing, as well as authors of fiction, nonfiction, academic and business authors.

Places lived – Melbourne, Vic, Australia | London, UK | Amsterdam, Netherlands | Sydney, NSW, Australia | Warmun, WA, Australia | Port Germein, SA, Australia

Travel – recent trips:
2027 plans – Antarctica, South America, Canary Islands | Scandinavia, UK
2026 – Indonesia, Darwin & NT | France, Portugal, Spain
2025 – Hunter region, NSW | Darwin, NT; Thursday Island, Qld; Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji | Townsville, Qld | England, France, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Madeira, Canary Islands
2024 – Texas, Florida & Louisiana, USA | Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa | Tuamotu, Marquesas & Society Islands | Japan, South Korea, Taiwan
2023 – Te Ika-a-Māui, Aotearoa | Tasmania | Townsville, Qld; | Canberra, ACT | regional Victoria
2022 – Adelaide & regional South Australia | Western Europe & UK | Far North Queensland