Denise O’Hagan

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About Denise O'Hagan

Editor and writer

Born and raised in Italy, Denise lived in the UK before emigrating to Sydney, Australia.

After completing a Masters in Bibliography and Textual Criticism at Leeds University, she worked as an editor with various publishing houses including Collins, Heinemann and Routledge in London, and Horwitz Educational and Cambridge University Press in Sydney, where she was also consulting editor with the State Library of NSW.


She set up her own imprint Black Quill Press in 2015 to publish her late mother’s books: Jerome & His Women (2015), shortlisted for the Institute of Professional Editors’ Rosanne Fitzgibbon Editorial Award (the ‘Rosie’), and a second revised edition of A Roman Death (2017), originally published by Macmillan. She also edited and published Chinese Whispers: In Search of Ivy (2018) by Alison Choy Flannigan; her own writing guide for authors, the Mini Style Guide (2019); and co-edited and published poetry anthology Messages from the Embers: From Devastation to Hope (2020). She now works with independent authors, helping shape and edit their work. You can read her testimonials here.

Her poetry is published internationally. Recipient of the Monica Taylor Poetry Prize, the NSW Poetry Prize and the Dalkey Poetry Prize, she was Poetry Editor (Australia/New Zealand) for literary journal The Blue Nib until 2020. Her recent poetry collection, Anamnesis (Recent Work Press 2022), was finalist in the Eric Hoffer Book Award and the Eyelands Book Awards and shortlisted in the Rubery Book Award and Highly Commended in the Society of Women Writers NSW Book Awards.

Denise is currently the 2024 Writer in Residence at Don Bank Museum, courtesy of North Sydney Council, NSW, where she is preparing a third manuscript and mentoring local writers.

You can read some of her published poetry here.

‘As a fledgling writer of creative fiction, Denise’s support has been invaluable in building my confidence, allowing me to venture into areas that I thought I would never be able to manage. Most valuable have been her broad comments about structure, and how content is taken up and understood by the reader.’
Sheriden Sommerley Creative Arts Lecturer, University of Newcastle
‘I highly recommend Denise. When it came to ensuring that a sentence was clear and a pleasure to read, she was astonishingly thorough. Her recommendations were invaluable, and she made them so respectfully that at no time did I get the feeling she was telling me what to do.’
Mark Averyauthor of The Umpteen Keys to Resilience, Sydney
‘Denise made an immense contribution to my Masters in Clinical Dentistry (Prosthodontics). Her multidisciplinary application of editorial and linguistic skills was instrumental in the subsequent publishing of my dissertation.’
Dr Sarkis Nalbandian
Dr Sarkis NalbandianDesigner Smiles, Prosthodontics and Implant Surgery, Sydney
‘Denise was invaluable in assisting me in preparing a significant case presentation, “Psychotherapy Case”. She worked tirelessly to edit and transform my paper into something that I could submit with confidence. I wholeheartedly recommend Denise’s work.’
Dr Lori AranhaPsychiatrist, Sydney
‘Denise was highly professional and capable and a pleasure to work with.’
David DrinkwaterDirector, Salamander Productions
‘Denise … is a very meticulous, reliable editor, who is able to work independently and take complete editorial charge of a project. Further, she has excellent communication skills and is able to liaise and negotiate editorial changes with authors with great skill.’
Rema Gnanadickamformerly Editorial Manager, Horwitz Educational Publishers, Sydney
‘The success of Maths-in-a-Box is largely due to the diligence, professionalism and dedication to the project of Denise.’
Andrew Woodsauthor of the Maths-in-Box series, Cambridge University Press, Sydney
'Denise exemplifies professionalism and candour, knowing also how to combine precision with promptness. She is a highly skilled editor as well as an attentive and sincere person, who consistently applies these qualities in her correspondence with you.’
Dianne Cikusa
Dianne CikusaAuthor of The Rain Sermon: Il Sermone della Pioggia, Mignon Press, Sydney
‘Denise’s feedback helped me turn the draft manuscript for Spin into a far more polished final version. Style. Clarity. Succinctness. 88,000 words became 80,500 words. And the book is all the better for it. Always encouraging, even when wearing her black editorial hat!’
Michael Fidler
Michael FidlerAuthor of Spin, Sydney
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