About Jane

Jane Cornes is a multi award-winning wordsmith and qualified trauma-informed counsellor. She lives in Perth with husband Neil. Her greatest professional joy is helping others realise their own creative potential.

Teaching

• Jane is the creator of the Lived Experience creative writing workshop, which offers two modules to those seeking perspective and healing.
  
• She also teaches creative writing and songwriting at retreats and festivals throughout Australia and overseas.

Editing & creative writing

• As a professional editor, Jane worked with various publishers on numerous non-fiction books.
  
• Jane has contributed many hundreds of in-depth feature articles to magazines and newspapers throughout Australia. Topics she has covered include the nature of grief, extra-terrestrials and the sex worker industry.
• In 2020 when freelance writing work dried up during Covid, Jane wrote, photographed and designed Lazy Fare, a collection of recipes and non-fiction writing gleaned from her 20 years as a food and travel journalist. In 2021, this self-published book won a special category award at the Gourmand International book awards.
• That same year, Jane was named winner of the AAWP/ASSF best short story competition for her short story Cockroach. She subsequently self-published a collection of short stories titled Cockroach and Other Stories.
• In 2023, her short story Sisu was long-listed for the Fish Publishing short memoir prize.
• In 2024, her short story Bottlebrush was long-listed for the Sydney Hammond Memorial short story prize.
• In 2024, her short story Vinegar Lips was Highly Commended by the Marje Wilke short story awards.
  

Journalism

• Jane was a state editor at Gourmet Traveller magazine for over a decade. She was Scoop magazine's first food and wine editor, and the inaugural program director of the groundbreaking Mundaring Truffle Festival.
• For five years, Jane wrote independent restaurant reviews for Post Newspapers under the "Madame Lush" byline.
• In 2009, Jane won the Alinta Hospitality Awards for Excellence Media Award, for a significant contribution to the restaurant and catering industry by a journalist.

Music

• Jane was artistic director of the Nanga Music Festival for over a decade.
• In 2011, Jane created Monday Supperclub, a monthly event showcasing quality independent music which continues today under the care of Little Folk, a charity that supports children with cancer.
• Jane has written dozens of songs, released five CDs of original music and was half of acclaimed female duo Doris with Margie Hanly. Today, Jane performs in the duo Jane and The Rain with husband Neil, playing at festivals and events throughout Australia.
• Mermaid's Lullaby, co-written by Jane and Neil, was named best song in the 2020 Tablelands Folk Festival songwriting competition.