Mel Campbell

Last updated
Mel Campbell
Born1977 (age 46–47)
Melbourne, Australia
Nationality Australian
Occupation(s)Journalist, author, podcaster and cultural critic
Known forCo-founder of Is Not Magazine and the online pop-culture magazine The Enthusiast

Melissa "Mel" Campbell (born August 1977 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian journalist, author, podcaster and cultural critic. She co-founded the magazines Is Not Magazine and The Enthusiast.

Contents

Biography

Campbell studied creative advertising at RMIT University, then pursued a Master of Arts degree by research at the University of Melbourne. Her research concerned the Australian cultural figure of the bogan, which she argued does not refer to a social class, a subculture or an aesthetic, but rather is a consensually imagined figure that arises in Australian media and public debate when Australian national identity is perceived as fragmentary or under threat. As part of her research, Campbell has written and spoken on the Jaidyn Leskie murder case, [1] Ned Kelly, [2] the television series Upper Middle Bogan [3] and the phenomenon of "cashed-up bogans". [4] Campbell's other academic interests include fashion and popular music. Her paper about the non-verbal vocals of Michael Jackson [5] won the International Association for the Study of Popular Music's Postgraduate Prize in 2003. [6]

For the 2004 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Campbell created the satirical character 'The Incredible Melk', a human resources consultant-turned-hip-hop MC. Her comedy cabaret show The Incredible Melk's Booty Pageant was commended in that year's Fringe Awards, and she performed a revised version at the 2005 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. [7]

Between 2006 and 2007 Campbell was pop culture editor at Australian alternative women's magazine YEN . From 2007-8 Campbell was deputy editor at Triple J's monthly music magazine, jmag. She continued to write and review for the magazine on a freelance basis. From 2009-11 Campbell tutored in online journalism at Monash University. From 2008-13 Campbell was the film editor at ThreeThousand, an online subcultural guide to Melbourne, as well as its sister sites around Australia. In 2013, through Affirm Press, Campbell published her debut book Out of Shape: Debunking Myths about Fashion and Fit, a non-fiction investigation of clothing size and fit. [8] In an interview at Crikey, Campbell said, "…clothes are so personal. They're part of our persona, and the feelings of shame and humiliation we feel when we get them wrong [are] very personally felt. You need to lift the lid on that." [9]

In 2016 she taught Advanced Feature Writing in RMIT’s Associate Degree in Professional Writing and Editing, then returned to Monash University to teach in the Master of Communication and Media Studies program. [10]

Journalism and criticism

Campbell is a freelance journalist who writes about popular culture, advertising and branding, media (particularly online media trends) and everyday life. Publications to which she contributes include The Age , The Sydney Morning Herald , Meanjin , Junkee , [11] Crikey , [12] Guardian Australia [13] and New Matilda . [14]

Creative projects

With Stuart Geddes, Natasha Ludowyk, Penny Modra and Jeremy Wortsman, Campbell co-founded Is Not Magazine in 2005, an independently published, bimonthly magazine in the form of a 1.5m x 2m bill poster. Is Not ran for eleven issues (and several special issues) from 2005 to 2008. "We wanted to make a community around this magazine and reinvigorate public space," Campbell told The Age in 2005, "it changes the way you approach reading, because there's no logical place for you to start." [15]

In 2008 Campbell formed the creative partnership Infinite Ape Media with fellow journalists Andrew Tijs and Daniel Zugna. Their first publication was an online magazine of culture and the popular arts called The Enthusiast . Launched in January 2009, The Enthusiast published news, features, opinion and review. The website shut down in 2014.

Campbell co-wrote her debut work of fiction, a romantic comedy novel titled The Hot Guy, in collaboration with film critic Anthony Morris. The book was published in June 2017 by Echo Publishing, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing. [16] They collaborated on a second romcom, Nailed It!, published in 2019. [17]

Blogging and podcasting

Campbell began her personal blog, A Wild Young Under-Whimsy, in March 2004. She also maintains a fashion blog called Footpath Zeitgeist, where she posts research for and discussion about her published work on fashion.

In 2016 Campbell joined the hosting team of the fortnightly literary and culture podcast The Rereaders, alongside regular hosts Sam Twyford-Moore, Stephanie Van Schilt and Dion Kagan. "Steph and Dion laughed when I referred to this podcast as "the famous Rereaders", but to me it really is like that movie Rock Star where Mark Wahlberg plays a tribute band singer who's invited to join the band for real," Campbell said in December 2015 when her role was announced. "Guesting on the Rereaders back in November was so much fun. And I'm looking forward to hanging out more with these guys in 2016, talking about my favourite topic – culture." [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bogan</span> Unrefined or unsophisticated person (Australian and New Zealand slang)

Bogan is Australian and New Zealand slang for a person whose speech, clothing, attitude and behaviour are considered unrefined or unsophisticated. Depending on the context, the term can be pejorative or self-deprecating. The prevalence of the term bogan has also been associated with changing social attitudes towards social class in Australia.

Helen Razer is a Melbourne-born and Canberra-raised radio presenter and writer. She is the author of four non-fiction books and a columnist with the Australian version of The Big Issue, Melbourne newspaper The Age and contributor to the monthly magazine Cherrie and weekly newspaper The Saturday Paper.

Eloise Mignon is an Australian actress. She began her career starring in children's television shows Legacy of the Silver Shadow and Silversun, before appearing in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. She has starred in numerous theatre productions.

Louis Athol Shmith was an Australian studio portrait and fashion photographer and photography educator in his home city of Melbourne, Australia. He contributed to the promotion of international photography within Australia as much as to the fostering of Australian photography in the world scene.

RMIT Link is a division of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) around student life and historically was an unincorporated entity, the campus union of the RMIT in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was formed in 1968 and currently consists of the following branches: Arts and Culture, Sport, City Fitness, "Recreation", "Orientation and Transition" and Administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RMIT Gallery</span>

RMIT Gallery is an Australian public art gallery located in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the main art gallery of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).

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Anastasia Powell is a feminist criminologist at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia.

Junkee.com is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health, and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to 29-year-olds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh Linaker</span>

Hugh Linaker (1872–1938) was a gardener and landscape gardener, who worked on various local and state government projects in the State of Victoria, Australia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adut Akech</span> South Sudanese-Australian model (born 1999)

Adut Akech Bior is a South Sudanese-Australian model. Akech made her fashion week runway debut as an exclusive in the Saint Laurent S/S 17 show and went on to close both their F/W 17 and S/S 18 shows as an exclusive. In 2018, she was chosen as "Model of the Year" by models.com, an honour which was repeated the next year. Models.com includes Akech in its list of the "New Supers."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duckie Thot</span> South Sudanese–Australian model (born 1995)

Nyadak "Duckie" Thot is a South Sudanese–Australian model. Thot became the last eliminated on the eighth cycle of Australia's Next Top Model and made her runway debut at the Yeezy S/S 17 show. She is best known for being a face of Fenty Beauty as well as playing the lead role in the Alice in Wonderland–inspired 2018 Pirelli Calendar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freeplay Independent Games Festival</span> Video game festival in Australia

The Freeplay Independent Games Festival is Australia's longest-running and largest independent games festival, first established in 2004. The Festival celebrates fringe artists and game makers, and highlights grassroots developers and art games. It gathers artists, designers, programmers, writers, gamers, creators, games critics, games academics and students to celebrate the art form of independent games and the culture around them.

Informit is as an online database that provides access to over 100 databases, some of which provide full-text sources. The online versions of the Australian Public Affairs Information Service (APAIS) subject index, and the Australian Public Affairs Full Text (APAFT) are part of the Informit database collection.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC), an international outlaw biker gang, has been involved in multiple crimes, alleged crimes, and violent incidents in Australia. The Hells Angels are legally classified as a criminal organisation in the Australian state of Queensland, and there have been attempts to classify them as such in New South Wales. The Hells Angels have been linked with drug trafficking and production, as well as a host of violent crimes including murder, in Australia.

References

  1. ↑ "Visible Evidence: New Factual Forms". University of Queensland. August 2002. ISSN   1329-878X. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "The order of Australia". theage.com.au. 14 July 2002. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Campbell, Mel. "Opposite Ends of the Freeway: 'Upper Middle Bogan' and the Mobility of Class Distinction". Metro Magazine. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "Perhaps there's a little bogan in everyone - Opinion". smh.com.au. 8 June 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Melissa (19 October 2013). "Informit - Context: Journal of Music Research - Saying the Unsayable: The Non-verbal Vocalisations of Michael Jackson (Humanities & Social Sciences Collection)". Context (26). Search.informit.com.au: 17–26. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  6. ↑ "International Association for the Study of Popular Music – Australia / New Zealand". iaspm.org.au. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  7. ↑ "The Incredible Melk - Reviews". www.theage.com.au. 14 April 2005. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  8. ↑ "Out of Shape". Affirm Press. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  9. ↑ Robin, Myriam (20 June 2013). "When things don't fit: An interview with Mel Campbell, author of Out of Shape". Crikey. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Campbell, Mel. "Teaching". Mel Campbell online portfolio. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "Mel Campbell contributor page". Junkee. Junkee Media. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  12. ↑ "Mel Campbell". Crikey. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  13. ↑ "Mel Campbell contributor profile". Guardian Australia. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  14. ↑ Archived 14 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ "Coming to a wall near you - Arts - Entertainment". theage.com.au. 20 May 2005. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  16. ↑ Adsett, Alex (3 August 2016). "The Hot Guy acquired by Echo Publishing". Alex Adsett Publishing Services. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  17. ↑ Campbell, Mel; Morris, Anthony, (author.) (July 2019), Nailed It!, Echo Publishing (published 2019), ISBN   978-1-76068-580-5 {{citation}}: |author2= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ "We are thrilled to announce that we have a new Rereader". The Rereaders Facebook page. 17 December 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
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