The Word Travels Team

Creative professionals with a diverse range of skills and experience

Eloise Schnierer

Chairperson - Lawyer - Presenter     

Eloise was born and raised in Byron Bay on the North Coast of NSW. She is of Torres Strait, New Caledonian and Hungarian descent. Eloise is a lawyer and runs her own practice, Watego Legal and Consulting Pty Ltd, specialising in media and entertainment law and Indigenous research. Eloise was the first anchor of National Indigenous Television's weekend edition of the National News. She also presented sports news on National Indigenous Television's Barefoot Rugby League Show during its first two years. Eloise has also previously worked as Senior Researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, and as a lawyer for FOXTEL, Legal Aid and SBS.

Miles Merrill

Creative Director - Spoken Wordsmith

Originally from Chicago (birthplace of slams), Miles is a writer, performer, facilitator and event co-ordinater who combines poetry with theatre, experimental audio, hip-hop beats, stand-up and occasionally political confrontation. He wrote and co-directed Slamming for the Sydney Festival and performed solo at the Sydney Opera House. Internationally Merrill has performed in Krakow’s Audio Art Festival, and writers festivals in Bali, Beijing, Vancouver and Calgary. He's the ideas and meetings person. The founder of Word Travels. He likes watching the tree outside his kitchen window grow while he does the washing up.  

Felicia Eccles

Event Coordinator - Arts Administrator - Editor

Felicia has had a lifelong interest and involvement in the arts and has dipped her toe in many creative fields, including music, dance, theatre and events management. Always happy to work in a role full of a variety of tasks, Felicia has had many years experience working in customer service, office administration and management. She has two teaching Diplomas in Speech and Drama, graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Performance Studies and completed her Certificate IV in Arts Administration in 2009. Felicia loves hanging out with friends, Bollywood and bellydancing classes, riding her bike, going to gigs and she is always up for a party. Don't be surprised to see her at meetings in all kinds of crazy outfits.

Brittany Searle

Publicity - Slam Poet

Brittany is a third year journalism student with a passion for words and all things creative. She is currently the feature writer and lifestyle journalist for the University of Western Sydney student publication, Degree and a music journalist for the online music directory, MusicOpps. As a native of Campbelltown NSW, she is dedicated to bringing spoken word to the western suburbs and inspiring young people from all walks of life. Writing her own poetry, she has the firm belief that life is about having a great story, and everyone has one. She loves meeting new people with new ideas, a great challenge and experiencing any new form of expression. She spends most of her

Bravo Child

Designer - Wordy Racontuer

Bravo Child is a storyteller who treasures the breath, rhythm, tone and shape of living words. He has presented in Newcastle’s National Young Writers Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Melbourne’s Overload Festival and the Sydney Opera House as well as in pubs, cafes and community halls. Running writing/performance workshops and freestyle jams, Bravo passionately encourages all to play with words, voice, ideas and experience to continue the tradition of storytelling as a valid form of expression in this modern electronic age. Bravo also design flyers, postcards, brochures, games, websites, lives...

Alana Hicks

Multimedia Coordinator - Playwright

Alana Hicks is a storyteller in multiple mediums, her main accomplishments include a poetry/music/theatre production called ‘Slamming’ as part of Sydney Festival 2005, the publication of her spoken word poetry in New York magazine ‘Rattapallax’ and the production of her first play ‘Oi La Loa Tau’ as part of Carnivale Multicultural Arts Festival. Alana has performed everywhere from pubs to concert halls, libraries and grassy knolls, as a hip hop MC, poet and digital theatre practitioner.

Belinda Campbell

Vice Chairperson - Writer - Singer/Songwriter

Belinda is a writer, singer/songwriter, sometime photographer, daydreamer, people watcher, and world wanderer. With both feet and both hands planted firmly in creative pursuits she is kept permanently busy by a number of different projects. As a writer she has been published in numerous Australian journals, including Southerly and Island, and is currently working on two larger projects. She is also a great supporter of all initiatives that engage people in literature and its magic. As a singer/songwriter, she can be found playing the occasional gig when nerves haven't got the better of her, and she is currently working on her debut EP. As a photographer, she enjoys working casually in the industry and was a 2010 recipient of The Seed 'art for the public' grant, with which she produced a public photographic and narrative exhibition entitled 'Intersections'. She once did an honours degree in Germanic Studies and sometimes wonders why.