Free Workshops, In-Conversations and an Evening Showcase in
the City of Casey
18th May 2024
10am - 4pm at Bunjil Place Library
6pm - 10pm at The Chapel, The Old Cheese Factory
Free Day Events at Bunjil Place Library
10am - Welcome to Country
10:30am - Workshop "Writing for Kids and YA"
11:30am - In-conversation "Podcasts and Radio Programs" (recorded)
12:15pm - Workshop "From Concept to Curtain: Crafting Your Theatre Show"
2:15pm - Workshop "Writing From The Hyphen"
3:15pm - In-conversation "Queer Histories of Naarm"
10:30am - 11:30am
Writing for Kids and YA
with Alison Evans
Participants will learn the components of writing for younger audiences, with a focus on character creation, crafting a strong sense of place, and finding inspiration in everyday life.
Alison Evans is the award-winning author of the YA novels Euphoria Kids, Highway Bodies and Ida. Their shorter work has been in the anthologies Everything Under the Moon, Hometown Haunts and Kindred, as well as places like Bramble Magazine and Going Down Swinging. Alison is co-editor of the zine Concrete Queers and the fiction editor of #enbylife magazine. They work as a bookseller and live on unceded Wurundjeri Land.
11:30am - 12:15pm
In-Conversation "Podcasts and Radio Programs" (recorded)
with Sally Goldner, Sam Elkin and Jonathan Butler
What makes for a good queer community radio program? What makes live radio unique? Sally shares 25 years of radio waves with Sam and Jonathan.
Sally Goldner AM’s massive involvement in Victoria’s queer communities spans nearly 30 years. Her diverse contributions include being a founding member of Transgender Victoria, presenting 3 CR’s “Out of the Pan,” Transfamily Treasurer, Just.Equal Australia Treasurer and Bisexual Alliance Victoria Treasurer. She is the focus of an autobio-doco “Sally’s Story”, a life member of 4 queer-focussed organisations and has made broad-ranging contributions to many other groups. She was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2016 (the first trans and first known bi woman to receive the honour), awarded LGBTI Victorian of the Year in 2015 and noted in The Age’s Top 100 most creative and influential people in Melbourne in 2011. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2019. She is a pro wrestling ring announcer (commentator, referee and wrestler in training), MC, speaker, educator, life coach and occasional performer (all in contrast to her original accountancy training)…will there be more…hell yeah!
Sam Elkin is a writer, lawyer, host of the 3RRR radio show Queer View Mirror and ABC History Listen's Crossing Time: A History of Transgender Australia. In 2022 he co-edited Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia (Allen & Unwin). Sam has been a Wheeler Centre Next Chapter Recipient and is a 2024 Walkley Development Fellow. His debut book Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga will be released by Upswell Publishing in May 2024.
Jonathan is a writer and content producer living in Naarm/Melbourne. His debut book, THE BOY IN THE DRESS (Affirm Press, 2022) was shortlisted for The Age Book of the Year (non-fiction) and won the Best True Crime Danger Award. He co-hosts the Words and Nerds Podcast spin-off series Queer Writes Sessions with R.W.R. McDonald. His written work has appeared in the Guardian, ArtsHub and Meanjin.
12:15pm - 1:15pm
From Concept to Curtain: Crafting Your Theatre Show
with Timothy Christopher Ryan
Covering the essentials of creating a captivating theatre show, focusing on structure, rhythm, pace, form, and character development. Gain insights into making your production tour-ready, exploring storytelling and production techniques with industry expert Timothy Christopher Ryan. Ideal for aspiring directors and playwrights.
Timothy Christopher Ryan, an acclaimed performer, artistic director, and producer, founded Scratch Arts, a thriving LGBTQIA+ theatre company. A Federation University graduate, he's produced numerous notable events, including the award-winning show Moist. Recently, Moist was named the best circus at Perth Fringe 2024 and won weekly best circus, theatre, and physical theatre awards at Adelaide Fringe in 2022 and 2023.
2:15pm - 3:15pm
Writing From The Hyphen
with Xiaole Zhan
As a Chinese-New Zealander, I spend a lot of time thinking about the little line joining both parts of my identity. What does it mean to have a hyphenated identity? Is the hyphen a connector or a point of fracture? And how might we write hyphens through poetry? This workshop is for everyone who identifies with 'hyphenated' identity—whatever that may mean to you!
Xiaole Zhan (they/them) is a Chinese-New Zealand writer and composer based in Naarm. They are the recipient of the 2024 Kat Muscat Fellowship. They were also the winner of the 2023 Kill Your Darlings Non-Fiction Prize for their autobiographical essay Think An Empty Room, Moonly With Phoneglow exploring experiences of racism growing up in a mixed Pākehā-Chinese family, as well as the winner of the 2023 Charles Brasch Young Writers Essay Competition for their essay Muscle Memory exploring music, depression, queerness, and gender discrimination over time. Their work can be found in Island, The Suburban Review, Landfall, Cordite, Going Down Swinging, Kill Your Darlings, Starling, and Sweet Mammalian. Their name in Chinese is 小乐 and means ‘Little Happy’ but can also be read as ‘Little Music’.
3:15pm - 4pm
In-Conversation "Queer Histories of Naarm"
with Sally Goldner, Yves Rees and Julie Peters
Queer stories have often existed just beyond the boundaries of mainstream historiography, but that is changing, fast. Join historians, academics and authors Sally Goldner, Yves Rees and Julie Peters for a fascinating glimpse into Melbourne’s rich LGBTQIA+ history.
Sally Goldner AM’s massive involvement in Victoria’s queer communities spans nearly 30 years. Her diverse contributions include being a founding member of Transgender Victoria, presenting 3 CR’s “Out of the Pan,” Transfamily Treasurer, Just. Equal Australia Treasurer and Bisexual Alliance Victoria Treasurer. She is the focus of an autobio-doco “Sally’s Story”, a life member of 4 queer-focussed organisations and has made broad-ranging contributions to many other groups. She was inducted into the Victorian Women’s Honour Roll in 2016 (the first trans and first known bi woman to receive the honour), awarded LGBTI Victorian of the Year in 2015 and noted in The Age’s Top 100 most creative and influential people in Melbourne in 2011. She was awarded the Order of Australia in 2019. She is a pro wrestling ring announcer (commentator, referee and wrestler in training), MC, speaker, educator, life coach and occasional performer (all in contrast to her original accountancy training)…will there be more…hell yeah!
Dr Yves Rees (they/them) is a writer and historian from Naarm. They are a Senior Lecturer at La Trobe University, co-host of Archive Fever podcast, co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia (A&U, 2022) and author of All About Yves: Notes from a Transition (A&U, 2021). Their next book Travelling to Tomorrow will be piblished by NewSouth in 2024. Rees' writing has featured in Meanjin, Sydney Review of Books, Griffith Review, Australian Book Review, Overland, The Guardian and The Age. Rees won the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize.
Julie Peters has been a doctoral researcher, teacher, performer, writer, parliamentary candidate, environmentalist, media professional, A strong focus of her work has been to demythologise and promote social justice and equity for trans and gender diverse individuals with health professionals and the public.
Free Showcase and Social Event
6pm - 10pm in The Chapel at The Old Cheese Factory
Stella Ramage
Marcel Liemant
Xiaole Zhan
Alushka Rajaram
Madison Whitmond
Sam Elkin