Catchfire Press Founders, Departed

Lisbet de Castro Lopo, 1937-2002

(Founding President).

Lisbet was born in Denmark, migrated to Australia in 1967, and lived in Newcastle from 1970 till her death. She held an M.SC. (equiv.) and Dip. Ed. (equiv.) from the University of Copenhagen, an MA from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. from the University of Newcastle; she was a lecturer and tutor in universities in Denmark, the USA and Australia.

From 1981-1992 she was coordinator of the Hunter Area Migrant Health Service's Interpreter Service, and Danish interpreter for the Migrant Health Service and the Ethnic Affairs Commission. From 1985-1992 she was Honorary Secretary of the management committee of the Newcastle and Hunter Migrant Resource Centre. Often in recent years she worked as travel guide to groups of elderly Danish tourists visiting Newcastle and the Hunter, and lecturer on Australian social and cultural life.

On her retirement in 1992, Lisbet joined the Fellowship of Australian Writers (Hunter Region), served as its president 1994-1997, and vice-president the following year. During her presidency she was also the Hunter's representative on the State Council of the FAW. She was a member of the Hunter Writers' Centre from its inception, and also a member of the NSW Writers' Centre and the National Book Council of Australia.

In January 1997 Lisbet was one of the seven founders of what has become Catchfire Press, and its founding president. She has had two novels published, one in England and the other in Australia. She died suddenly in April 2002.