Queerstories

Amidst an earthquake, Erin is caught looting frocks.Erin ‘Bullet’ Heine is the Program Manager LGBTIQ+ at Sydney Local Health District. Originally from New Zealand, of Māori and European heritage, they are passionate about improving the health and wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ community. They won the Out Role Model at this year’s ACON Pride and Health in Wellbeing awards and completed the NSW health management traineeship program (2012-2013) including a Masters of Health Science, Health Service Management. Erin has an acquired brain injury and ADHD.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv

Neville reflects on how each of his platonic boyfriends has helped him grow.Neville Williams Boney is a proud Wiradjuri/Weilwan man from Wagga Wagga. Neville is a 2018 Graduate of NAISDA Dance College. He is currently an independent, interdisciplinary artist living on Dharug Lands. Neville danced with Karul Projects in their work CO_EX_EN premiering at Dance Massive (2019, he was a Collaborator for Phunktional’s Beyond The Wall (2019), Associate Producer for Sydney Festival and 2021 Artist in Residence for Solid Ground, at Evans High School. Neville also co-created, BRUTAL, an Indigenous adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with fellow graduate, Amy Flannery. Together with Jopuka Productions, this work showcased the talent of young people on the Central Coast. Neville’s passion is to pass on his cultural and creative knowledge on to the next generation through art and create his own works so he can bridge gaps in his culture, community, art and self. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ sto

How many breakups does it take to break someone? When western culture runs on the power of the romantic couple, it took losing a best friend to prove to Breakup Queen Brooke that she wasn't made entirely of stone and ice.Brooke Scobie is a queer Goorie woman, single mum, poetry and prose writer, podcast host and community worker. Born and bred on Bidjigal country, and now living on Darkinjung land, she considers herself first and foremost a creative weirdo. As a writer she is dedicated to telling stories that centre Blak identities, queer love, family, and unpacking some of the issues that can affect First Nations’ communities and countries. Brooke has been published in Overland Journal, Running Dog, Red Room Poetry, SBS and was awarded second place in the 2020 Judith Wright Poetry Prize.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Fa

CS has always been told they got their knack for storytelling from their family, oral histories passed down, told over and over. But are there more to those stories than meets the eye?CS Pacat is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller, Dark Rise; the Captive Prince trilogy; and the GLAAD-nominated graphic novel series Fence. Born in Australia, CS Pacat has since lived in a number of cities, and currently resides and writes in Melbourne.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yves shares their passion for hikingYves Rees is a historian at La Trobe University, co-host of the Archive Fever podcast and author of All About Yves: Notes from a Transition. They are also co-editor of Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia. Rees was awarded the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Omar shares his poems.Omar Sakr is the author of two acclaimed poetry collections, These Wild Houses and The Lost Arabs, which won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. His debut novel, Son of Sin, is out now.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Krystal reflects on stargazing with her mumKrystal De Napoli is a Kamilaroi author and astrophysicist devoted to the advocacy of Indigenous knowledges and equity in STEM. She is the co-author of Astronomy: Sky Country, published in 2022, which explores the wondrous interconnected world of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander astronomy.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dylan reflects on the steps he took to make it as a professional artist.Dylan Mooney is a proud Yuwi, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander man from Mackay in North Queensland working across painting, printmaking, digital illustration and drawing. Legally blind, the digital medium’s backlit display allows the artist to produce a high-impact illustrative style with bright, saturated colour that reflects his experiences with keen political energy and insight. This blending of digital technology and social commentary is a uniting of the artist’s sense of optimism – pride within the works exude with profoundness and substance. Interested in the ways in which we can reframe the conversation around some of the voices that have been left out, the artist has made an important body of work that embodies a shift in representation of queer love among people of colour. Dylan’s work is inspired by history, culture and community. He is a leader in the medium of digital illustration and creates characters that reflect the LG

Kevin shares one of the most exceptional experiences of his life.Kevin Yow Yeh is a Wakka Wakka and South Sea Islander man and current Higher Degree Research student and Sessional Academic at the Queensland University of Technology. Kevin is a Director at the Institute for Collaborative Race Research and is an active member of the Meanjin community where he enjoys collaborating with other First Nations peoples across academia, activism and the arts. Kevin has also appeared on the latest season of Gogglebox Australia with his partner Bob and their friends Jared and Mia. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at 

Lara is tasked with producing a party at a funeral home for work, but life ends up complicating the process.Lara Thoms is interested in socially engaged, site-specific and participatory possibilities in contemporary art and performance. She works as an artist in Field Theory and is a co-director of Aphids. For ten years she has also been a curator and producer for organistations including Dark Mofo, Supplefox, Next Wave and Performance Space. Her work has been presented with Perth International Arts Festival, Artshouse, Gertrude Contemporary, The Malthouse, Next Wave festival, the MCA, Performance Space, Radial System v Berlin, as well as multiple venues and institutions.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on

Ivy explains how Townsville turned her into the joke making abomination she is today.Inspired by both her father and Shaun Micallef, Ivy Hawke completed a law degree then went straight to Brisbane to become a comedian. Her comedic style is a mix of chaotic ramblings, punch lines about lessons she learnt growing up queer in Townsville and disaster tales formed from not paying attention to her surroundings. Ivy runs a dungeons and dragons radio show on zed digital where she encourages writers and comedians to let out their inner goblin. She also made it to the semis of Raw Comedy and was a finalist in the Brat Pack finals, all in her first year on the scene.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To su

Benjamin wrestles with a recent gay trauma, and finds a way to process it and plan for the future.Benjamin Law is an Australian writer, broadcaster and absolute icon. He’s written books, TV shows, plays, he hosts Stop Everything on ABC Radio National, he writes for Good Weekend, he’s hosted documentaries, he’s on Australian Survivor, I don’t know when he sleeps, it’s outrageous.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shanaya reflects on her year 7 speech assignment.Shanaya Donovan is 18 and a proud Darug, Dhungutti and Gumbayngirr woman from Western Sydney. A lover of music and art, and believer in knowledge and truth. She’s staunch and aiming to change it up through breaking down social and cultural barriers and rewriting the rules of the world. She performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsay Ross and hosted by Neville Williams Boney.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Keith writes a letter to someone who needs to hear it.Keith Quayle is a Malyangapa and Barkindji gay man, who was raised on Dharug country. His lived experience of the NSW correctional system informs the advocacy work he carries out on behalf of trans and gender diverse people in detention. He performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsay Ross and hosted by Neville Williams Boney.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gary remembers the events that led him from the small country town where he grew up to the big city.GaryLonesborough is an award-winning Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coastof NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. His debut YA novel,THEBOY FROM THE MISH, was published in February 2021, and was published byScholastic in the U.S asREADY WHEN YOU AREin March 2022.THE BOY FROMTHE MISHhas been shortlisted for numerous awards, winning the 2022 BooktopiaFAB Award for Favourite Debut Book.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zac learns an important life lesson: never travel with your ex.Zac Roberts is a Yuin man currently living on Wallamattagal land, Dharug country. He’s a historian, currently struggling through a PhD about the relationships between Indigenous and Jewish people in Australia since 1788. Zac has previously worked in museums, education, and as a pizza delivery driver. He performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsay Ross and hosted by Neville Williams Boney.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for

Jinny-Jane realises there's something that makes her different from her loved ones, and she finds a way to tell them.Jinny-Jane Smith is a proud Wiradjuri/ Walbunja woman of the Yuin nation. Jinny identifies as a lesbian woman, mother and aunty to many. She is a dedicated advocate, giving her time to enhance communities, address social justice and self-determination for the betterment of community. Jinny is the Community Engagement Officer of BlaQ. She sits on the board of Gadigal information Service and City of Sydney advisory panel. She performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsay Ross and hosted by Neville Williams Boney.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchase

A coming of age tale, from junior school to a Catholic high school via more than a few netball courts.Following a very, very long corporate career, Chris Southcote burst onto the comedy scene in 2020. He has since bagged gigs throughout Australia; he was a grand finalist in Sydney’s Comedy on Edge 2021, Queensland Raw Semi-Finalist 2021 and the Sunny Coast Festivals Laughable Runner Up 2021. At an age where he could quite possibly be hitting “mid life crisis” territory, he comes armed with years of stories to share; with an edge of bitter and a splash of sarcasm, he’s just a grumpy old queen trying to make sense of the world. Aren’t we all, Chris, aren’t we all.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia

Aurelia tells a tale about working minimum wage in dimly lit stores, fashion internships and meeting Dennis Rodman at the Playboy Lounge.Aurelia St Clair is a comedian, writer, podcaster and dog mother who now calls Melbourne home. You can listen to another of Aurelia’s stories on the lockdown edition of the podcast I produced in 2020, head to Queerstories.com.au and look her up.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kirsty has an encounter with the Otway Panther...or does she?Kirsty Webeck is back with another tale, this one performed at Brisbane Comedy Festival in 2022. If you don’t know who Kirsty is, I’m not sure where you’ve been. She’s a national treasure.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased from your favourite independent bookseller or on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetter Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.