The Big Show is a showcase of many of the artists who appear in The Perfect Diary, a gallery and a literary journal of some of the best contemporary artists, writers, photographers, poets and illustrators in Australia.
You can select a contributor by clicking on their name (names in blue have their own pages) in the contributor lists below, or browse through their synopses further down. Some people in The Big Show have won The Big Stick monthly competition and have not appeared in The Perfect Diary.
Each contributor's page shows two examples of their work (including the work that appears in the diary), a brief biography or statement, links to further sites and (maybe) some of their work that you can download.
If you are a contributor to The Perfect Diary and want to appear in The Big Show click here.
Contributors to The Perfect Diary 2001 Contributors to The Perfect Diary 2002
geoff harvey, brook emery, alison bartlett, tricia dearborn, rona green, matt hetherington, emma white, john tranter, diana cole, michele morgan, bertha tweem, philip norton, kelly ashby, gina mercer, barbara licha, s m chianti, luke bowering, alex taylor, julian meyrick, clem beer, karen knight, john clarke & ross stevenson, william yang, margaret metz, heidi jackson, alex hutchinson, dorothy maniero, kathleen bleakey & amelia fielden, dominique falla, luke whitby, jamie oxenbould, craig green, lisa bell, caroline pursell-williams, rebecca edwards, jean frances, dianne sutton, tug dumbly, helen leudar, david christie, judy nowland, john west, nora heyson, garth madsen, mark miller, lesley fowler, arnaud anquetil, ¹.o., naomi jane wrightson, lesley walter, reg lynch, faithe duberchin and ben winspear lachlan burrell, karen knight, barbara licha, ross donlon, cassie mcguinness, benito di fonzo, chris mulhearn, stephen lawrence, dean stewart, julian meyrick, rona green, les wicks, alex taylor, philip norton, lee-anne bethel, brook emery, diana b cole, john west, david pope, dylan trevena, rachel waith, s m chianti, wayne marnell, gina mercer, elizabeth jones, tug dumbly, luke bowering, christopher parry, julie a taylor, mark miller, geoff harvey, ian c smith, matthew harding, anna hedigan, rebecca edwards, craig powell, paddy japaljarri stewart, margaret metz, elizabeth barnett, kevin gillam, caterina pacialeo, andrea gawthorne, maria norris, garth madsen, paddy japaljarri sims, david reiter, miriam edwards, jean frances, bronwyn rennex, alison thompson, clem beer, sandra hill, janet gallagher and herb wetmeat

Contributors to The Perfect Diary 2003 Contributors to The Perfect Diary 2004
diana cole, kevin gillam, geoff harvey, a j rochester, julie a taylor, stephen lawrence, robin plowman, tric o’heare, vanessa hardman, damian kringas, susan cole, les wicks, clem beer, benito di fonzo, alison bartlett, s m chianti, babara licha, rebecca phelan, rebecca edwards, karen knight, sarah firth, john west, martin hurley, paul mitchell, michael patrick, ross donlon, annette willis, ian c smith, denise keele-bedford, craig powell, luke bowering, tug dumbly, bettina kaiser, philip norton, linda derrick, mark miller, jenny mitchell, adam ford, anne lynch, david mortimer, kate dolan, sue clennel, cat sparks, ivy alvarez, miriam edwards, lesley fowler, jaelene durrand, faith de savigne’, daniel grierson, gina mercer, nadine behan, andrea gawthorne, amber beavis, peter murphy, julie simpson and rona green.
 christine nguyen, garth madsen, nancy hunt,
emilie zoey baker, john powell, sue clennell, belinda mason-lovering, graham rowlands, keith nevin, andrew mckenna, anne-maree taranto, ian mcbryde,
judith ben-meir, lisa d’onofrio, zanny begg, jennifer chrystie, jenny springett, mileta rien, rona green, monique choy, susan cole, lucy raig, sally-ann rowland, les wicks, john douglas, benito di fonzo, bettina kaiser, miro bilbrough, denise keele-bedford, anna ryan-punch,
chris bray-cotton, margie cronin, yuko matsuzawa, tric o’heare, richard ellard, tug dumbly, barbara licha, s m chianti, anna hedigan, myron lysenko, katherine fries, megan wynne-jones, julie a taylor, adam ford, lynn stanton, matt hetherington, dylan behan, pat pillai,
melissa westerman, anne walsh, alannah fencker, mark mahemoff, amber hewett, kevin gillam, matthew zonca and elena knox.

Contributors to The Perfect Diary 2005
lou harris, kevin gillam, caroline burke, lucy holt, chee kheong ooi, alisoun downing, susan cole, ian c smith, aidan cullen, lisa d'onofrio, rebekah regan, melinda smith, graham byrne, jennifer chrystie, ben walker, john west, andrew mcutchen, benito di fonzo, rona green, dawn bruce, john douglas, matt hetherington, nina roberts, leanne hall, belinda mason-lovering, lu holt, bettina kaiser, fiona wright, marie peters, angela costi,
diana cole, s m chianti, lisa stewart, ian mcbryde, melissa westerman, jill jones, frances cook, philip norton, darby hudson, sean m whelan, clem beer, faith de savigne’, adam ford, megan wynne-jones, amber hewett, tug dumbly, rebecca edwards, gina mercer, barbara licha, myron lysenko, emilie zoey baker, heidi jackson, anna ryan-punch, julia boros, les wicks and kate andrews-day
 


THE BIG SHOW - the contributors are listed alphabetically by surname.

NOTE: The gallery is under development, more contributors will be featured here as they apply

work in The Big Stick Shop work in The Perfect Diary 1999 work in The Perfect Diary 2000
work in The Perfect Diary 2001 work in The Perfect Diary 2002 work in The Perfect Diary 2003
 work won the monthly Big Stick Competition

 
Matthew Beer
Matthew was born in Yorkshire in 1962 and came to Australia a long time ago. He is a writer, publisher, performer and designer, for print and the internet. He made this website and The Perfect Diary.
Charmaine Calaitzis
Charmaine has been writing philosophically flavoured poetry and essays for the past 12 years. She has self-published her works on desktop and has published works for various writing associates. She lives at Noosa on the south-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia.
Ross Donlon
Ross was born in Sydney in 1945 of (mostly) Irish ancestry. He wrote and published as a young man, then travelled the world and returnined to Australia to become a teacher. After a long pause in his writing he is enjoying "the second budding". Ross lives and regularly reads his work in Melbourne.
Janet Gallagher
I hail from North Queensland and currently live & work in Melbourne, Australia. My works were influenced by the vivid contrasts of environment & lifestyle between these places and the journeys inbetween.
Karen Knight
Karen Knight's poetry has been widely published in Australian anthologies, newspapers and literary journals, including Poetry Australia, Verandah and Mattoid. Karen regularly performs her work at festivals, in cafés and pubs.
Barbara Licha
Contrast makes life more active. We all have these ups and downs - I have ups and downs and I try to use these very characteristic moments in my works. I associate colours with situations which i would like to express.
David Pope
David is an Australian political cartoonist and illustrator.
Les Wicks
LES WICKS has been published in over 100 magazines, newspapers & anthologies in Australia & elsewhere. He has performed extensively at festivals, schools, prisons with Meuse Press which focuses on poetry outreach projects.