James (Jim) McGrath is a man of many talents, but his theatre and creative writing skills are certainly top notch. After graduating from UC in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing, Jim became a dedicated public servant with the Australian Government, serving as a communications account manager and a media and marketing manager. Later, Jim joined Nican as a program manager, developing and delivering programs for people with disabilities throughout ACT. However, Jim's big break came in 2010 when he was accepted into The Street Theatre's HIVE, a mentoring program for new up and coming writers.

With that, Jim was inspired to write and develop a new musical theatre comedy, "Heart of a Dog", adapted from the Mikhail Bulgakov novella of the same name. "Heart of a Dog" helped James earn a $50,000 Australia Council "Creative Australia" grant and is set to premiere at the end of May 2014 with Jim as the Producer.

In addition to writing and producing "Heart of a Dog", Jim was the producer for Emma Gibson's "Dead Beauty Queens" for the 2013 Cracked Theatre Festival. He also wrote the short play "The Ballad of Smith & Wesson" which went to become a finalist in the 2009 Duologues competition. Jim is now well on his way to becoming Canberra's most popular playwright and producer.

While a UC student, Jim was an editor of CUrio magazine and also helped establish the University of Canberra Media Association. Jim fondly remembers his time at UC, crediting his degree with helping shape his professional life to where it is now. "I always maintain that the most important lesson I got from my degree was how to take criticism," Jim says. "I also learnt the power of collaboration. With a unified creative team, the power and originality of your combined passions and vision is exponentially greater than anything you could have conceived on your own."