Currently
Astrid is a bibliophile. She is the host of The Garret: Writers on Writing and has interviewed more than 200 of Australia’s most prominent writers. In 2023 she began a PhD at the University of Melbourne exploring potential and perceived barriers to publishing and selling climate fiction in Australia.
She regularly moderates and participates in panels at literary festivals, and you can read her book reviews in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, Future Women, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue, Australian Book Review and Australian Foreign Affairs.
Astrid also judges literary prizes and teaches in the Associate Degree of Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University.
Astrid is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is the former Chair of Melbourne Writers Festival and the former Deputy Chair of Writers Victoria. Astrid is also a Member of the Victorian Disability Advisory Council advising the Minister for Disability, Ageing and Carers. Astrid is also a National Advocate for MS Australia, and she made her debut appearance on Q+A in 2021.
Astrid is a member of Mensa Australia.
Previously
Astrid spent eight years as a management consultant working for state and Federal government, ASX-100 companies and not-for-profit clients. On behalf of her clients, she managed commercial and creative content. Best of all, in the high risk profession of consulting she learnt how to thrive on uncertainty and challenge. She can identify an opportunity, pitch an idea, develop a business case, manage the risks and then deliver, on time and on budget.
After a health crisis in 2014, Astrid left the consulting world to pursue what she loves: books, ideas and storytelling.
Prior to her years as a consultant and this new creative life, Astrid explored the road-less-travelled. She taught Classical Latin in Sydney, represented the Australian Government at the United Nations in New York, was awarded a fellowship at the US Department of State in Washington DC, and worked for a private American intelligence agency in Austin Texas (yes, really).
Astrid has a Master of International Business (cum laude), as well as a Bachelor of Arts (Honours)/Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from the University of Sydney. She also has a Graduate Diploma of Legal Studies from the University of Melbourne and the Diplôme de langue et civilisation Françaises from Sorbonne University in Paris. Astrid also completed the CERT IV in Training and Assessment. Astrid is a member of Mensa Australia.