Special or annual events hosted at the Old Melbourne Gaol, Crime & Justice Experience.

Open Cell Sundays!

The National Trust (Vic) and Writers Victoria have opened two new writing spaces in the depths of the Old Melbourne Gaol. The writers will work in these cells each day and, on the last Sunday of each month, open their cell doors to the public.

During August, the cells were the writing studio of Elizabeth Jones and Justin Coburn. Elizabeth is writing a novel set in late 19th century Victoria, based on historical events whilst Justin is writing a creative non-fiction book that is set around the massacre of 45 Indigenous Peoples in Southern Mexico at the end of 1997.

Jenny Sinclair and Megg Mino began their sentence in March.

Jenny Sinclair is writing a fictional account of the life of Edward Oxford, who shot at Queen Victoria in 1840. Oxford spent a large part of his life locked in cells similar to those in Old Melbourne Gaol. The novel is part of Sinclair's PhD studies at The University of Melbourne. Sinclair published a non-fiction biography of Oxford last year with Arcade Publications, titled A Walking Shadow.
Megg Minos is writing a historical novel set in Melbourne in the 1870s and 1880s. Minos novel will focus on the lives of two characters who perform magic shows and are pick pockets. Minos has completed a BA of Creative Writing with RMIT.

So, drop in and have a chat with the writers about what it’s like to have a studio at the Gaol, what their work is about and how the cell effects the creative process.