Nalini Haynes

There are two certainties in life: death and the taxation officer. Nalini Haynes used to be one of them. She left the tax department to work with disadvantaged people as a counsellor and educator until disability discrimination ended that career. She is currently Dark Matter Zine’s managing editor, and is studying Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT. 

Accolades include the Dawn Slade-Faull Award, a place in Adelaide Fringe Festival's upstART program, selection for Adelaide University's Place in the World exhibition, the Chronos Award for Best Fan Writer 2013, shortlisting for various other awards and an invitation of membership from the Golden Key International Honors Society.

She writes:

My first memory of reading was whining at my father who wanted me to read the same book again. One day I was tagging along behind my father and discovered a large hardcover book of poetry in a corner store; imagine my surprise when my father bought it for me! He coached me to read ‘Triantiwontigongolope’ by C J Dennis; I said the poem was silly but my father challenged me to think about possibilities in this strange world. 'Could I be normal in a world like that?' I asked, aged four, because I already knew my disability separated me from the community. 'Yes,' he said. Thus my love of science fiction and fantasy was born.