The word. The image. The idea.
Since the age of nine, Stephen’s heart has answered the call of the creative arts. As a teenager he excelled in art at school and sold paintings to a fanbase of teachers. At an even younger age, he was winning competitions for poetry including monetary prizes in the Sun-Herald (Newspaper) Junior competition.
The new millennium brought new momentum. He began to work on creative writing projects seven days a week for an hour or so early each morning - before work, weekends and while travelling on public transport. In 2021, using an iPad and Apple pencil, he also began to draw and paint again, after a gap of many years.
Today, as a published author, freelance writer and artist, Steve has written a spec-fiction novel, two (2) books of non-fiction, six (6) short stories, one children’s story, eleven (11) collections of poetry, two (2) picture books, three (3) novellas, numerous articles and has been shortlisted for several major Australian poetry prizes.
Since 2000 he has been prolific:
2011 - Social commentary ‘A Plate of Eggs’ published in paperback by Zeus Publications (QLD) 2011
2013 - Twelve (12) eBooks on Amazon author site
2010-2017 - Twenty-two (22) articles exploring spirtual/social themes published in three (3) Australian lifestyle magazines
2019-2023 - Four (4) poems shortlisted in three (3) major Australian Poetry prize competitions
2022 & 2024 - Exhibited paintings in two art exhibitions at Blend Café Dougherty Centre, Chatswood, Sydney and online at Bluethumb
2024 - Art & writing contributions to the 44-card Oracle Card deck, ‘Yoga Mudra Oracle’ to be published by Arcturus London, UK
“My working life began in the late 1970s with a Structural Draftsman Traineeship with the firm that built Sydney’s Centrepoint Tower (now ‘Sydney Tower Eye’). But changing direction, I plunged into years of study for Bachelors and Masters degrees in philosophy and psychology at the University of Sydney .
After that, on a whim that lasted 11 years, I became a public servant writing correspondence, press releases and speeches for senior NSW government ministers. When voluntary redundancy beckoned, I jumped ship, fearing any longer in a Government job would render my soul obsolete”.
“Before leaving behind my ‘job for life’ in the NSW public service, I completed a p/t Diploma in Graphic Design from KVB School of Art and Design. However, considering copywriting as a future career, I committed to a Diploma in Creative Communications with Creative World, also at North Sydney.
As part of that training, I accepted a three-week assignment at Coast Rock FM radio station, Gosford, writing radio commercials. In 1993 I was employed as full-time copywriter for retail giant, Harvey Norman or ‘Hardly Normal’ as our fax machine header read; although this would be short-lived, when I said yes to a graphic design job offer with a small Tech startup”.
Creative writing and painting have taught me …
reality is fuzzy
“My love of all things creative - poetry, writing, drawing, painting - goes back to when I was less than ten years of age.
As a youngster, I won prizes for my poems and drawings. More than just a hobby, that love of the artistic has been my rock and lifeblood, balancing and supporting me through life’s ups and downs and changing tides”.
Steve Denham