Marisa Wikramanayake

writer, journalist & editor ~ I help you tell stories.

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  • Home
  • Blog
  • Services
  • Journalism work
  • Editorial work
  • Events
  • Free resources
    • Perth & WA Literary Calendar
    • Women who review
  • My Patreon
  • MEAA FAQs

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  • Freelancing,  Journalism

    Surviving university as a journalism student

    February 13, 2015 / No Comments

    Stay away from the guild. No guild I have ever known has been without its share of drama. You don’t need to recreate high school all over again. Be aware of what they do as story ideas abound but maintain distance. Find a viable university paper or magazine that drama free or not is likely to run continuously without a hitch for the duration of your degree and join it. Even if isn’t at your university. See if you can wrangle your way in. Start a blog. Especially on the one part of journalism that you want to practice. Go big with a domain name that matches your real name.…

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    How to deal with late payments as a freelancer

    January 26, 2019
    A phone with messags on its screen sits on a desk in front of a lit up keyboard

    My 10 Compelling Reasons For Running Youtube Livestreams Right Now

    January 22, 2021

    Best places in Fremantle to write

    September 27, 2013
  • Updates

    2014 beckons

    January 1, 2014 / No Comments

    I don’t know what 2014 is the year of. Apart from being the Year of the Green Wood Horse. And apparently the International Year of Family Farming so please think about where your food and consumer goods come from and whether they are ethically and sustainably produced. But it is 2014 now. 2013 has gone. I was busy in 2013 and so it flew by fast. The editing conference is over and I can breathe again. In December you all nearly decimated my server by loving the How to tell if you are an editor post so much so thanks for that. Clearly humour wins you over. If you want…

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    Why my brain has no space and why I have no time

    May 11, 2016

    Real men do read – they just don't let the sexy, geek goddesses know.

    February 6, 2013
    Fallon Michael's photo of eyeglasses on book beside macbook for Marisa Wikramanayake's blog post about their 2021 year in review

    My 2021 year in review – amazing goals success or failure?

    January 4, 2022
  • Journalism,  Real Scientists,  Science journalism

    53 free ways for science journalists to brush up on their science… and counting

    November 25, 2013 / No Comments

    This is a list of FREELY AVAILABLE basic science primers, courses and videos that science journalists can take to brush up on their beats/niches/topics of interest. NOTE 1: MOOCS = Massive open online courses = free, short, online, provided by universities to give you a primer in the basics of a scientific topic of study. Both MOOCs and the Coursera courses will use Youtube videos so don’t eliminate them on that basis. NOTE 2: Coursera courses vary in length and whether you get a certificate at the end and are offered at different times so some of the ones listed below may drop off and on again depending on when…

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    Salinity threatens freshwater mussels

    September 9, 2010

    Interview with Nury Vittachi on the 6th IPEd National Editors' Conference 2013

    March 2, 2013
    Marisa Wikramanayake waiting to present during the IPEd Conference freelancing workshop in 2013

    Where have I been?

    May 5, 2013
  • Journalism,  Political journalism

    #ECUWAPolChat transcript: quizzing the Mt Lawley candidates

    March 6, 2013 / No Comments

    I was curator/livetweeter/Twitter wrangler for the recent #ecuwapolchat – an experiment by the political journalism students at Edith Cowan University on interviewing candidates for the upcoming WA State Election (9 March 2013) and on livetweeting. Three out of the five candidates for the Mt Lawley electorate came to speak to us on Monday 4 March 2013 and we livetweeted the discussion. This is the transcript of the event with added information and links. Hit the “Read Next Page” button and it will load the next page on this very page so you won’t have to open any other tabs or browser windows. If you like it share it or comment.…

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    Interview with Nury Vittachi on the 6th IPEd National Editors' Conference 2013

    March 2, 2013

    Big Bang confusion

    March 16, 2011
    A mug full of coffee on an open planner

    Setting goals as a freelance journalist

    October 11, 2019
  • Australian Women Writers Challenge,  Book Reviews,  Projects

    AWW 2013: Amanda Curtin's Inherited

    January 24, 2013 / 4 Comments

      Precision is what comes to my mind, first. Amanda Curtin likes to write about connections, between person to person, between person and object, person and landscape. And about how those connections make us feel. Or why they are unique to us. Why they don’t make any sense or at least a different kind of sense to others. The back cover blurb for the book tells us:     Inherited brings together stories about the gifts and burdens we inherit from the world or from those we love, and what we, in turn, leave behind. Inherited is her latest collection of short stories. And every word in each story belongs…

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    The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan

    The Paper House by Anna Spargo-Ryan

    May 25, 2016

    AWW 2013: Interview with Amanda Curtin

    February 1, 2013

    AWW 2013: Ann-Marie Priest's Great Writers, Great Loves

    January 31, 2013
  • Projects

    Thoughts on teaching

    October 1, 2012 / 2 Comments

      For the past few weeks I have been working as a tutor to the first year Journalism students at Murdoch University here in Perth. For the elucidation of those based in other countries, students go to a lecture here given by the lecturer on the theory of a subject and then break off into smaller groups of around twenty to attend tutorials or workshops where they learn the details of the theory or the practical versions of the subject via exercises and assignments. Tutorials and workshops are run by the tutors.

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    The final #ipedcon2013 Program!

    April 6, 2013

    How to write a book: Part 5: Structure (or Chapter and verse)

    April 13, 2011

    Australian Love Stories

    November 20, 2014
  • Projects,  Science journalism

    Foursquare for flora and fauna? The ClimateWatch smartphone app

    September 28, 2012 / 2 Comments

    Following the stories about and the response to the ClimateWatch iPhone app.

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    Pressure probe paves pathway for plant research

    March 16, 2011

    On pens, paper and meaning

    November 17, 2012

    AWW 2013: Marion Halligan's Murder On The Apricot Coast

    February 7, 2013
  • Journalism,  Science journalism

    Want to help break a Guinness World Record?

    August 14, 2012 / No Comments

    If you’re in Perth, take a look at this article I wrote: http://sciencewa.net.au/topics/item/1623-perth-residents-ready-to-break-guinness-world-record/1623-perth-residents-ready-to-break-guinness-world-record? It’s National Science Week and instead of lectures, Curtin University is doing something different. Curtin is attempting to break a world record and not only do they need participants, they also need stewards to help them carry everything out. Check out the article and give them a ring.

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    A mug full of coffee on an open planner

    Setting goals as a freelance journalist

    October 11, 2019

    Mentoring: the why and the how of doing it

    December 6, 2013

    Alison Morton's Inceptio

    May 24, 2013
  • Photojournalism

    Equal Love Rally Perth 2012

    August 13, 2012 / 2 Comments

    It’s far sunnier than I expected on a Perth winter weekend morning as I enter Stirling Gardens formerly the Supreme Court Gardens. It’s an innocent bit of greenery in the middle of the city. On Saturday, 11 August 2012, it got taken over. And I was there to protest. And to photograph. Equal Love – it nearly sounds like something left over from the ’70s but this isn’t that old but neither is it exactly new. Across the world several countries have amended laws to allow people with alternative gender identities and sexual orientations, all sorts of civil rights including the right to marry. Eight years ago, the Federal government…

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    Photographing the Perth Royal Show 2012 and failing miserably…

    October 4, 2012
  • Journalism,  Projects,  Science journalism

    Designated Director Designate designates direction for marine research

    March 24, 2011 / 1 Comment

    Date published: 11th March 2011 Publication: Science Network WA Editor: Jason Boudville Author/Photographer: Marisa Wikramanayake Title: Oceans Institute announces new Director Link to full article: Oceans Institute announces new Director

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    Salinity threatens freshwater mussels

    September 9, 2010

    Big Bang confusion

    March 16, 2011

    Australian Love Stories

    November 20, 2014
12

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