Melanie Hawkes wears many hats, including PDA’s WA Director and the person who bravely shared her sexual journey as a woman living with disability, reigniting a worldwide conversation around disability rights, intimacy and pleasure.
Her most recent chapter saw her being awarded the Jennifer Burbidge Short Story Award for people with disabilities at the WillyLit Festival in Victoria on Saturday 21st June.
Her winning entry, titled “A New Chapter In My Life”, was about her first session with a sex worker at age 43.
Announced at the awards ceremony, Melanie won first place in her category, with prizes of $500, an anthology of all the shortlisted stories and a certificate.
Her story can be downloaded from the WillyLitFest website:
www.willylitfest.org.au/jennifer-burbidge-writing-award
Click on ”SEE THE 2025 ADA AWARDS SHORTLIST”
Due to the SEXUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT there is a content WARNING – proceed with caution.
Melanie hopes that this piece will become chapter one of her planned memoir.
