Zela Bissett grew up during the 1950s and 60s on Butchulla Country in Maryborough and Hervey Bay. Her family were somewhat bemused by her inclination towards the visual and literary arts but through the intervention of her “Uncle” Gough she was able to attend university, become a teacher and foster similar leanings in other unlikely young people. She makes art works, writes poetry, prose, plays and polemic, occasionally published. She regularly deconstructs her life via speeches for her Toastmasters club, shows work in art galleries and other locations, and as a speaker has taken part in panel discussions, spoken word performances and pecha kucha evenings.