Hula Hoop virtuosa Judith Lanigan writes for and about circus. She is acknowledged as an Australian export product for her international touring with her  hula hoop interpretation of the ballet divertissement The Dying Swan. Judith Lanigan studied hula hoops at the Moscow State Circus School.

Press reviews of the Dying Swan - 'An excellent adaptation of a classical theme with a highly intelligent wink from Down Under' Rastatt Germany.

Her career as a hula hoopist has taken her from the streets, squares and piazzas of Europe to the Burlesque Dives of London and led her to believe that in any generation of performers there are always the same clown archetypes, a subject she explores in her first novel A True History of the Hula Hoop which also presents the results of her attempt to prove that the hula hoop was being used in Australia before it was 'invented' in America. Her story The great Clown Kidnapping of 1572 (optioned as a feature film treatment by Firefly films UK) based on the true story of a 16th century company of clowns kidnapped on their way to perform for the king of France, also plays a part in that novel.

In 2006 she was part of the ASA Mentorship Award

In The Program

Thursday 6th August   10.45am - 11.45am   SCU Marquee   JUNIOR SECONDARY - Transitions: from the stage to the page
Thursday 6th August   1.15pm - 2.00pm   Blue Marquee   Transitions: from the page to the stage
Friday 7th August   12.45pm - 1.45pm   SCU Marquee   On the shelf: getting into print
Saturday 8th August   8.00pm   Pandanus Room   Writers' Cabaret
Sunday 9th August   12.15pm - 1.15pm   SCU Marquee   Not just clogs and shawls: research for historical fiction