About

Courtney Gawne traces her affinity for language to a specific childhood conversation with her mother. 3 year-old Courtney selected her own outfit – brown and white checkered polyester pants (bell-bottoms, natch!), a floral-design turtleneck, and a swim cap – and headed downstairs to present her ensemble. Upon entering the kitchen, her mother sweetly declared, “Awww, you look atrocious!” to which Courtney blushed and replied, “Thank you.” It wasn't until years later that she realized that she had been duped and from that point forward, she made it her mission to conquer the written word.

Fortunately, Courtney’s word sense outpaces her fashion sense. She’s a verbal chameleon whose experience in education, travel marketing, concert promotion, and book/magazine publishing creates an inimitable force of linguistic dominance.

After graduating with a degree in English Literature from the University of Arizona, Courtney packed up and headed to New York University for an intensive course in book and magazine publishing. She then journeyed to the OTHER side of the country and started a career in the publicity department of Price Stern Sloan, the Los Angeles-based creators of the best-selling Mad Libs™, The World’s Greatest Word Game. Family brought her back to Tucson a year later, and she continued her publishing career as marketing manager for a regional publisher.

Eventually, though, she gave into the education's siren song and pursued a life-long dream: becoming a teacher. While earning her K-12 certification, she began the next phase of her life as a 4th grade teacher and then, after two years, made the transition to “her true love” where she has spent most of her 16-year teaching career –– middle school language arts. She finds no greater joy than watching students connect with characters in a book or yearn to share something that they’ve written. Many of Courtney’s students are published annually in the American Library of Poetry’s anthology, and she has written more than a half dozen articles printed in Leadership magazine, a national publication produced in conjunction with the National Honor Society and National Association of Secondary Student Councils.

Courtney stepped away from the classroom for a few years and returned to the private sector as a marketing and technical writer. There, she responded to government RFPs (Request for Proposals) and secured projects for multi-million dollar state-level tourism entities, developed marketing materials for seasonal campaigns, and contributed to internal branding. During that time, she also produced all written content for Khris Dodge Entertainment, a Tucson-based concert production company. Her contributions included everything from establishing the company’s branding, website content, show descriptions, and social media presence, and she was also integral in researching, developing, and writing scripts/talking points for several of the company’s most popular shows.

Never one to sit still for too long (unless she’s binging a really good show), the prospect of an empty nest has prompted a new venture – Gawne Writing. With this new endeavor, Courtney seeks to blend her love for education with her flair for clever word play. Whether it’s teaching someone to appreciate the written word and become a more proficient communicator, spreading the word about events on social media, securing grants for non-profits, or producing ready-made finished pieces, Gawne Writing provides on-point solutions…but (thankfully) not fashion advice.