Dr. Karen Lowry is a freelance writer, marketing manager, graphic designer, lecturer and digital poet. Her current research investigates the influences of governmentality on world building in speculative fiction, focusing on how trauma defines physical and political spaces within the State. Karen currently works as a sessional academic at Curtin University and Murdoch University. She also writes for ArtsHub and X-Press Magazine.
Karen has presented her work at conferences and festivals around the world, including The Great Writing Conference in London, the Electronic Literature Organisation Conference in Orlando, The Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival in Western Australia, and the National Young Writers Festival in Newcastle NSW.
She approaches her research with a diverse set of skills, which includes twelve years experience as a freelance writer and journalist, seven years experience in UX design and front-end web development, and three years experience in film and motion graphics.
Karen is passionate about the arts industry in Australia, having spent over 11 years managing festivals and events. These include the 2012 and 2013 Perth Poetry Festival for WA Poets Inc, the Literary Youth Festival for Propel Youth Arts, and numerous livestreams for Loungeroom Livestreaming.
Karen showcases her research through an extensive publication list with her most recent work, a digital essay on fake news, being been published in the inaugural edition of The Digital Review. Her non-fiction articles and reviews have been published in The Guardian, Fringefeed and The Conversation. Creative publications have appeared Australian Poetry Journal, dotdotdash and WRIT Poetry Review.
In 2017 Karen collaborated with author, David Thomas Henry Wright, to create a digital interface for his novella Paige & Powe, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards. She was also highly commended in the 2013 Poetry d’Amour Love Poetry Competition for “Hinge”.
Training and Education
Karen has a PhD in electronic literature from Curtin University. She was recipient of the Australian Postgraduate Award and Curtin Research Scholarship. As a top 20 finalist for AMP’s Bright Sparks Competition, Karen received training on financing research and public speaking. She also holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Marketing.
