The Founding Years

In 1994, while an Arts student at Edith Cowan University, Trudy Graham researched the establishment of a new writers’ centre. Her research won the support of lecturers, fellow writers and the Shire of Wanneroo, who could all see the need for a writers’ centre to service the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. The idea was acted upon, resulting in the Northern Writers’ Association being incorporated on 31st May 1995 by a steering committee including Andrew Taylor, Susan Hayes, and Glen Phillips, with Trudy Graham as the Centre’s founding President and Julie Lewis as the first Patron. Representatives from the local Wanneroo Council attended committee meetings to assist with the successful establishment of the group. The new group met in different community locations and held creative writing workshops, ran competitions, created anthologies, involved local schools, and resulted in a steadily increasing membership.

In 1998, the Northern Writers’ Association became the Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre Inc. in honour of Peter Cowan, an esteemed Western Australian writer and academic. Along with the name change, the Centre was about to change its location to the former home of Edith Cowan, Peter’s grandmother and Western Australia’s first female member of parliament in 1921.

The Centre started with a strong team namely: Trudy Graham, Julie Lewis, Glen Phillips, Andrew Taylor and Susan Hayes, the State Literature Officer. The committee’s goal was to establish a positive future for the craft of writing in the northern suburbs and to advise members on publishing, all aspects of writing and grant applications. Trudy Graham was the first President and became its first life member in 1998, followed by Glen Phillips and Ena Taylor in 2005. There have been further life members appointed since then, and an annual writer-in-residence program was conducted at the Centre for many years.  Julie Lewis remained the Centre’s Patron from 1995 until her death in 2003. Andrew Taylor has been the Centre’s Patron since 2008.

Edith Cowan Cottage

Edith Cowan’s original home was built in Malcolm Street, West Perth in the 1890s. Edith lived there for about twenty years until her death in 1932. It was also the childhood home of Peter Cowan. The house was scheduled for demolition in September 1991, when local resident Audrey Hines lobbied politicians to preserve the historic building. Edith Cowan University mounted a last-minute rescue and purchased the building. It was photographed, videoed and designs were drawn up before it was dismantled and transported to Armadale for storage.

Edith Cowan University decided to re-build Edith Cowan House at the university’s Joondalup campus due to its potential to become the primary campus, and as the house provided a link to the university’s namesake, Edith Cowan. A setting was chosen nestled in a grove of pine trees overlooking the lake in the centre of the campus. It was originally intended to simply rebuild the 100-year-old house but university architect, Mike Donald, decided that damage, due to age and termites, would prevent this.

In 1996, construction of a replica of the house began. Building students from North Metropolitan TAFE carried out the project and included as many of the original components as possible; such as doors, door frames, mantle pieces, floor boards and window features in the re-building process. The exterior was painted to reflect the style and colours of the period, giving it an ‘old world charm’. The City of Wanneroo also contributed funding for furniture and fittings. The house was completed in early 1998 with Edith Cowan University setting aside rooms for the Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre Inc.

On 18th May, 1998 at 2.30pm, Edith Cowan’s refurbished weatherboard home was dedicated as the Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre Inc in a special opening ceremony conducted by Tom Hungerford and Pat Jacobs. Peter Cowan, aged 84, attended the ceremony and commented that his grandmother would have approved. Peter Cowan Writers’ Centre Inc was the first writing centre to be established on a university campus in Western Australia.