Creative Folk

Meet Lachy our latest intern!

August 20, 2026

What attracts you to being an intern with Celebrate Living History?

An internship with Celebrate Living History is an amazing opportunity to partake in a different kind of journalism that I don’t get the privilege of doing with my degree.

It allows me to find interesting stories from people who have lives filled with knowledge and stories that deserve to be heard but will often go untold and forgotten about because no one took the time to ask them about it.

I think that this is a really valuable process to be a part of, and it is a chance for me to grow as a journalist; learning how to sit with someone and properly listen and help them share something that matters to them.

I believe that these stories, and the people telling the stories, are an integral part of a blossoming community, and I am grateful to have the chance to contribute to that.

Who is an older person that you admire, and why?

There are many older people I admire, Neil Young, David Attenborough, Bob Dylan, Helen Garner, the list goes on.

When I think deeper about admiration in the context of an older person there are a few factors that I have to take into account: the experiences they have had to navigate through their life, the resilience through difficult periods, the insight and perspective they have developed, and the kindness they show to others.

This brought me to the conclusion that the older person I admire most and had the greatest impact on the person that I am today is my grandfather (Pa to me, and whose tales I will be writing about). He has been a source of wisdom, through my upbringing. He taught me what it means to be a man, having strength and courage, especially to own up to my mistakes, having respect for people and their opinions even if I disagree with them, how to be supportive to others, and having self-awareness.

These are all traits that he has imbued in me from a young age, and I consider these to be the making of a good person.

If you could jump into a time machine, what era would you visit, and why?

As an avid history enthusiast this is a question that I think about quite often, and is quite a difficult one to answer, US western expansion, the opulence of the Mughal Empire, the fall of Constantinople; these would all be incredible but the era I would pick to travel back to is between 500-300BCE, the cultural and scientific advances across the world during this period were immense.

This period was the golden age of Ancient Greece; The Greek city-states hold off the Persian invasions in famous battles (Marathon, Salamis, and Eurymedon) which we know so much about thanks to Herodotus inventing history as an academic discipline. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides shared twenty-four years walking the earth, three of the greatest playwrights. Modern philosophical ideas are beginning to be thought up by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, laying the foundation for western philosophy that is still so important today, and almost concurrently there is Buddhism being developed in India, Confucianism, and Taoism.

To stand at the crossroads of this era would be to witness the intellectual awakening of humanity. Not to mention Alexander the Great too.

Meet our newest intern, Isabelle

March 2, 2026

Welcome to our latest intern Isabelle Drake from Griffith University.

What attracts you about being an intern for Celebrate Living History?
I am drawn to this internship because journalism is a great way to communicate and teach others about important and influential events, places, people, concepts, etc.

However, Celebrating Living History specifically caught my attention because they focus on the preservation and communication of local history.

It is a topic that I have become passionate about after a recent university assessment that opened my eyes to the significance and importance of a lagoon to (one) the local first nations people and (two) the biodiversity and survival of internationally traveling sea birds.

Learning about, understanding and respecting nature and cultures different to my own is a concept and practice in my day-to-day life, that is a fundamental value ingrained into my person from childhood. This assessment left me horrified, disgusted and appalled by my own ignorance and the lack of community education and awareness surrounding our local histories, especially, regarding the histories of indigenous peoples and colonisation in the area.

This is the reason I was ultimately attracted to Celebrate Living History’s internship as it allows for community education.

Who is an older person that you admire and why?
Johnnie Gill, born during the 1860s, the reason his existence is known is because of a book called ‘Who Was Johnnie Wheels?’ by Victor Sullivan (his Great-Nephew).

He was a severely handicapped individual due to an accident with a sheep crushing him and snapping his spine at nine-years-old that caused excruciating pain. Johnnie was expected to succumb to his injuries and die but he never did. The accident left him unable to sit, stand, or walk, his only means of movement (as a child) was to physically drag himself around on the ground.

During this time period due to cultural biases and prejudice having a family member with any obvious physical disability, handicap, chronic ailment, or special needs was seen as a family embarrassment and humiliation which led to the disabled family member being confined to and hidden in the family house – often isolated to a singular room. This is what makes the publication and Johnnie Gill so important. The biography gives us direct and personal insight and representation into the lives of those who were disabled, handicapped and ultimately voiceless during these eras in western history, when those with disabilities were actively erased from memory.

It is also, sadly, the reason Johnnie Gill is so inspirational, because despite his disadvantages he led a far more successful life then most abled people. He taught himself how to fix clocks and sewing machines; learned how to get himself from one place to another and invented his own means of transport, despite his family trying to isolate him to a single room in his earlier years; ran a successful sheep shearing business with one of his nieces – who would hold the sheep as he sheered them – and beat out their competitors; earned his own income and living; and even got married.

He forced people in the world to not only acknowledge his existence but also interact with and pay him for services that they themselves either could not perform or could not achieve the quality of that Johnnie could and treat him with – what would have been considered during the time period – some kind of semblance of humanity.

If you could jump into a time machine, what era would you visit and why?
If time machines existed, and safety were guaranteed, there are two places that I would have to flip a coin to choose between.

The first is the Victorian era which I am enthralled with due to the social and cultural impacts and influences of the era as the foundation of Western Culture, especially, from a gendered historical perspective, as it was arguably the most oppressive era for women to have lived during throughout all of western history.

The second time and place would be Alexandria, Egypt, in the years before The Great Library of Alexandria burnt down and spend the time learning and studying ancient cultures, languages, lifestyles, food, beliefs, animals, performing and visual arts, academics, etc.

Internship Reflection

February 8, 2026

By Brianna Lane

Working with Celebrate Living History has truly been such an amazing experience.

I was able to dig deep, truly explore my creative skills, and combine them with my journalistic skills to create stories that aligned with my core passion.

People. I’ve always loved writing and learning about people and their lives, and this experience let me do both. Working remotely also allowed me to delve more deeply into my creativity and helped me keep writing.

It actually inspired me to become a freelance journalist/writer once I have fully completed my journalism degree. So, overall, thank you, Celebrate Living History. This truly was an amazing experience, and if anyone were thinking about doing this, I would 100 percent recommend it. Thank you once again, Celebrate Living History! It was a pleasure working/ writing for you.

Meet our latest intern!

September 21, 2025

We meet Brianna Lane our latest intern from Griffith University.

What attracts you about being an intern for Celebrate Living History?

As a journalist, it is so important to learn about the ways and lives of people around you, especially those of older age. Learning stories and history from people and their firsthand accounts is the only way we grow. Knowing what they came from, what they went through, and how they survived can help us understand our own experiences and ways we may be going through them. That is what attracted me to Celebrate Living History, as I want to learn more about people and their lived experiences. People have stories to tell, so why not listen?

Who is an older person that you admire and why?

There are actually a few people I admire… I’ll tell you two. The first is the great-grandmother. Nana Pascale, we used to call her. She was such a strong, independent and kind-hearted person who gave the world 100 percent no matter what. She listened, sat there through all the hard times and gave what I thought was the best advice that could ever be given. To be honest, she is the one I think about when I feel down and in the dumps. She reminds me to be strong, independent and kind, no matter what you’ve been through.

The second person I’d definitely say I admire is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, also known as the RBG. She inspired me to study journalism and law and to work hard, no matter what life throws at you. Although both of these amazing people have passed away, they continue to inspire me every single day.

If you could jump into a time machine, what era would you visit and why?

What an interesting question! This one took me a minute to think when… but a time I would jump back into would definitely be the 90’s era! Not only was the Cold War ending, but amazing music from awesome bands and musicians was also emerging. Rage against the machine? Nirvana? System of a Down? Wow! Literally all of my music tastes have definitely come from that era… so what a time to see them in their prime, right? Woodstock was also still a thing, and pink blackberries and Myspace were the hot topics. To be completely frank, I would definitely say I wish I was born in the 90s… what a time of amazing and crazy culture to experience.

Internship Reflection

January 29, 2025

By Claire M Brereton

My Internship at Celebrate Living History has been a rewarding privilege and I have learned a great deal from this experience.

My background in the Australian public service provided training and experience in both public speaking and interview techniques. I have interviewed many different people over the years. Approaching and giving people space to confide in me during the interview process seems second nature to me, and people seem to feel safe telling me private things they have not spoken of previously.

During my internship, I reflected on my training about being sensitive the dangers inherent in having the ability to elicit trust. There is always a risk that when a person is alone after having revealed past traumatic experiences, the process may bring up feelings of vulnerability or a sense of violation. For this reason, I made it clear from the beginning, that my interviewees could withhold signing the ‘publishing approval form’ until I had finalised the article.

I also allowed each individual to read the work before it was published. I ‘voice recorded’ their words and transcribed them verbatim. However, once they saw it in print, all interviewees believed some of their original words did not clearly express their actual meaning and we agreed to minor changes to the quotes. It is interesting how we sometimes think we have said what we mean but when we read it, the meaning seems different.

Allowing interviewees this much post interview input, worked for me and against me in some ways. On the one hand, I feel behaved ethically, in protecting the emotional welfare, privacy and social standing of the individuals, and this was satisfying to my peace of mind. But on the other hand, there were a couple of occasions where having spent a lot of time crafting what I considered would be a very impactful story, we agreed to withdraw from the process and withdraw the record. It felt a shame that I needed to sanitise the effect our commercial world and its inherent inequity has had on these individuals.

Nevertheless, I did manage to find a couple of brave individuals. One was willing to take the risk their anonymity would be safe, and the other was comfortable for me to release their identity. I published their stories with the help of the editor Bev Wilkinson.

Bev’s professional guidance in my grammatical errors, enabled improvements for the second article. However, I noticed that Bev recognised a mistake I made twice. I feel a bit humbled that despite the fact I recognised importance of it the first time, I once again assumed the audience would know certain facts. I hope that in future I will remember that some audience may not understand the political background of my topics, and I am able to clearly explain this. I feel I have grown professionally from this.

Meet our latest intern Claire!

November 18, 2024

Say hello to Claire M Brereton our latest intern from Griffith University in Queensland!

What attracts you about being an intern for Celebrate Living History?

This internship aligns with my Communications and Journalism Degree.

I want to interview the people who hold our community together and explore the people our culture often overlooks.

We tend to judge and dismiss some people, without ever sitting next to them to hear how their experiences influence their journey and contribute to our society.

I am hoping to improve my writing skills to share these stories.

Who is an older person that you admire and why?

I admire Linda Jean Burney (born 1957) – for her communication skills, tenacity, and bravery in confronting racial discrimination in Australia.

Linda Burney was proud to be an Aboriginal woman during a period in Australia when racism was not illegal, and our First Peoples suffered demoralising discrimination.

Ms Burney broadcast on Radio Redfern 88.9 during the 1980’s as part of an innovative use of mass media to combat institutionalised racism. She was the first woman to openly identify as an Aboriginal in the Australian House of Representatives.

If you could jump into a Time Machine, what era would you visit and why?

If I could jump in a Time Machine I would dearly love to go back to pre-colonial Queensland and experience living with Indigenous people in harmony with nature.

I would not necessarily want to stay there because I would miss my friends, my family, and my current lifestyle; but I would love to interview these people and take videos of how things worked during that era.

I would want to bring these records back to the present to convince people it is possible, sustainable, and enjoyable to bring our society into closer harmony with nature.

Sharing this knowledge might save the planet from our current trend of environmental degradation from excessively materialistic competition.

Jordan’s intern reflection

June 3, 2024

Interning with Celebrate Living History has been an invaluable experience for me.

This internship has provided me with a unique opportunity to apply what I’ve learned as a Journalism/Creative Writing student in a real-world setting, especially with interviewing and storytelling.

Engaging with Australian seniors and recording their life stories was not only rewarding in and of itself but also deepened my appreciation for oral history and its cultural significance. Interviewing people that I’ve known for years but never thought to ask these kinds of questions has let me learn a lot about them that I never would have without this opportunity.

This experience has really boosted my confidence moving forward with my skills in interviewing, which were underused and admittedly shaky before my start here, as well as in storytelling and editing. This has really reinforced my passion for creating meaningful content. I am grateful for the opportunity given to me to contribute to such a fantastic project.

Meet Jordan our latest intern!

March 17, 2024

What attracts you about being an intern for Celebrate Living History?
I was attracted to Celebrate living history mostly because I have a passion for storytelling. I enjoy creative expression in all its forms, and CLH would let me use that passion for a good cause. Interviewing seniors also sounded interesting, especially as recently I’ve been discovering new and interesting things about seniors in my own family, details about their lives that I’ve never thought to question before, and the impact those decisions and actions have had on my family and my own life. CLH just seemed to be a natural pick.

Who is an older person that you admire and why?

I admire my grandmother, who has spent most of her life acting as a carer in one way or another. After my mother and her siblings were all grown up and out of the house, my nan decided that she wanted to help people, and has worked as an assisted living carer for elderly people who have incapacities, like dementia. This has always been something I’ve admired about her, helping people who need it.

If you could jump into a time machine what era would you visit and why?

I would have to say either the renaissance period or the 1980’s. For the Renaissance, seeing the massive leaps forward in almost every creative field, from art to literature, would be amazing. Seeing Shakespeare performed at the Globe for the first time, or a bit further back and seeing Da Vinci’s paintings being unveiled would be absolutely incredible. Almost the same reason for the 1980’s, really. There were so many defining pop culture icons in that decade, I can only imagine seeing E.T. for the first time in theatres or listening to new Michael Jackson songs as they were released.

Amy’s Intern reflection

January 24, 2024

By Amy Saeki-Zhai

I have been very lucky to be able to do my internship at Celebrate Living History. As
a literary studies student, I have always wanted an opportunity to use the writing techniques
that I have studied in other texts such as metaphors, symbolism, and dramatic irony to write
and share my own stories.

I believe that considerable amounts of wisdom, cultural history
and, inspiration for future generations can vanish throughout time without stories from older
generations being written down. Thus, I not only wrote down the experiences of my
interviewees but attempted to recreate their experiences through literary techniques.
The aspect that I enjoyed the most about Celebrate Living History is that when it
came to selecting a topic and subject to write about, ‘ the sky was the limit’. I was not
constrained to write about a single topic and could find the interviewees myself. While this
was challenging at first, it opened up more opportunities for me to get to know my local
community, family,and friends overseas on a deeper level. Without this internship, I may
have never known their incredible, often, unbelievable experiences.

It made me realize that the everyday struggles and hardships that I have experienced are incomparable to what my interviewees have gone through in order to build a better life for their families. Sometimes it
was difficult for me to even ask about their life journey. Such was the case when I
interviewed Shelly, a current resident of the Gold Coast but originally from South Africa. In
the beginning I requested her for an interview asking about her life experience which she
promptly denied. Just when I decided to give up, Shelly invited me for some coffee at a
nearby cafe. After chatting for close to two hours, she began to open up to me about her
childhood and participation in protests against Apartheid. I learned that the process of
conducting an interview goes beyond asking the interviewee a list of predetermined
questions. Instead, it is built upon trust and emotional connections between the interviewer
and interviewees.

Despite her past trauma, Shelly never forgets her motto, “ No matter what
life throws at you, keep smiling.” There is hardly a time when I do not see Shelly with a bright
smile on her face. Inspired by her, I also try to smile during hard times, whether I am feeling
stressed or have an argument with someone. It certainly makes a difference.

I really want to thank Bev for always being very encouraging and supportive
throughout this internship experience and taking the time to read all of my stories. Although I
was totally lost in the beginning of the internship as to how to write my stories and where to
find my interviewees, Bev’s constant encouragement helped me build the confidence as a
writer and interviewer. Her passion for writing has also inspired me to continue to pursue a
study that I love, regardless of what others think of me. Working with Celebrate Living
History has been an invaluable experience and I hope to take the skills that I have learned
here with me for my future career as a writer.