Jenny Niven

Jenny Niven is the Associate Director at The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas in Melbourne.

Jenny came to Australia in early 2010 after 6 years in Beijing, where she directed the events program at The Bookworm, China’s foremost English-language literary events venue. She was director and co-founder of The Bookworm International Literary Festival, which runs annually across the three Chinese cities of Beijing, Chengdu and Suzhou.

Jenny was books editor at Time Out Beijing from 2006 to 2008. She contributed to Beijing: Portrait of a City, published by Odyssey in March 2008, as well as numerous travel guides. She joined the Wheeler Centre staff after holding the position of Program Manager at the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Jenny is originally from Scotland where she gained an undergraduate degree in Scottish Literature and Film and a masters degree in journalism. She was an arts researcher for Hopscotch Films and BBC Scotland and spent April and May 08 and 09 working on the PEN World Voices Festival in New York. In case it isn’t already crystal clear, she likes books and travel.