Eleanor Swan is a writer, director and youth arts advocate currently based in Sydney. She’s a proud dag with no penchant for the ‘cool’, writing vibrant characters who either don’t care how they are perceived or care far too much; life is best felt in extremity. Writing for both young and adult audiences, Eleanor is passionate about telling stories of identity, community and embarrassing oneself dramatically and often.

Currently Co-Chair of ATYP’s Youth Advisory Board, Eleanor helps engage young people around the country in federal arts policy, script assessment and the logistics of running a youth theatre company. She has worked on and completed an internship with Play School at the ABC and her graduate film The Lifeguard was nominated for ‘Best Youth Short’ at the St Kilda Film Festival. She has been a finalist in numerous essay competitions, her piece Nomad currently included in the Year 9 NSW English Syllabus as an exemplar of persuasive writing. Her play Basic White B!tches was a finalist for the Canberra Youth Theatre Emerging Playwright Commission.

Everything Eleanor writes must be proudly Aussie, but not ocker. She enjoys working in fast-paced, collaborative environments, and is noted by her peers for her ability to give insightful dramaturgical feedback. She is currently developing a play set in the town of Gilgandra, a short film set at a Hoedown dance, and a very, very gay film set in (naturally) an all-girls’ boarding school