Women and the World

About the Book

Covenant woman, created for the man, Your calling is great, to preserve the land. Be ready, be glad, ’tis KERRY SUSAN DRAKE Poetry Women and the World

About the Author

I Kerry Susan Drake returned to formal study to complete a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism at Deakin University and a Diploma of Arts in Professional Writing and Editing at the Council of Adult Education in Melbourne in 1999. I have a Certificate in Business Studies Public Relations from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University where I began my degree in journalism, and majored in Politics before I married. I also have graduated as a teacher of Speech and Drama from Trinity College London, and have a Master of Arts Writing from Swinburne University. I have been teaching for six years, and find it very rewarding. International students have stayed in my home and received one to one tutoring in English Language. I also teach English Language VCE level. In 2001 I started The Leading Dramatic Society Theatre, which is a community theatre for which I act as Director. When I was eighteen my passion was acting. I thought I was meant to be an actor because I won an award for best actor in a schoolhouse play. While working at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, I joined the Actors Theatre in Richmond. At the same time I studied acting at Crawford’s School of Film & Television. Later, writing somehow took over. I began keeping a journal, and then researched my family tree and compiled a pictorial history on my father’s life. In an honorary capacity, I started a newsletter for the local church. While directing a religious musical I contacted the editor of the local paper and passed on stories of interest about my church as Public Communications Director. Even doing this, I did not think my future would be that of a writer. English standards were high at Northcote Technical School; on leaving year eleven I had some impressive marks for short stories and essay writing, but marking was tough in English. In Applied Sciences, I finished fourth out of a class of ten, in which there were eight males – Mr Elliott, the Chemistry teacher, remarked at our final class: “What are you going to do in the future, Kerry, get married and have ten children?” I was a prefect at school and female representative for the Student Representative Council in my final year of secondary school. I stopped freelancing as a journalist in 1986 and have concentrated on creative writing while bringing up three children. After receiving awards for poetry and short stories for children in my church, I have decided to write for the wider community as it has given me much enjoyment to write, and I hope this is experienced by others. My hobbies are portrait painting, drawing, listening to music and cooking. I work from a home office from which all my activities are generated. I am an award winning author for 2012 USA Best Books “Inspirational Poetry”. I recently also published English Language Year 11 & 12 Study Guide. I am a Teacher/Author/Director, Kerry Susan Drake living in Brighton East for the past 26 years.