Anna Maynard (Hebblewhite) (Class of 2006) Doctor, Musician and Author
Posted on July 11, 2025
Dr Anna Maynard (Hebblewhite) (Class of 2006) found herself drawn to medicine young – her mother was a doctor too and Anna was seriously considering the profession in primary school. But she says that artistic outlets – drama, musical theatre, composition – also played an integral role in her childhood and teenage years.
“During my years at Friends’, I felt utterly supported in an academic sense,” recalls Anna, who is a doctor in the Emergency Department at the Royal Hobart Hospital. “But, like a lot of teenagers, I didn’t always find those years easy. I had a lot of insecurities and self-doubt, and I think the opportunity to express myself with creative pursuits was very anchoring and has continued to serve me well through my adult life.”
Anna is a songwriter and performer, who’s recorded three albums under the name of Nuria, and is in the final stages of editing her novel Flowers In July, out next April and the second in a two-book deal with Echo Publishing. (Her first, Dancing With Bees, was released in April, and she has just started on a third.) The books are romances and Anna describes the experiences of adolescence as a “valuable pool of creative material” that fuels her writing.
“I love my medical work and will continue to practice as a doctor,” says Anna, who lives in Hobart with her husband and three young children. “Balancing medicine with the creativity of writing allows me to express myself in an entirely different way that I find incredibly nourishing. It’s a combination that I hope to continue through my working life.”
