Queerstories

After a stark realisation that childhood dreams aren't always the best realities, Trent decides to move to Meanjin. Trent Wallace lives on Gadigal country and is a First Nations Advisor and Pro Bono Lawyer in a global law firm - the first and only Aboriginal person to hold this position. Prior to this, Trent was the first Aboriginal lawyer on the Disability Royal Commission and was with Australian Government Solicitor. In between these positions, he developed postgraduate course content that equips budding lawyers with the culturally safe and correct techniques required to work effectively with mob - another first. A serious Haigh's aficionado and pop culture quoter, he sums himself up as being a mostly sane left handed, chubby, queer, Aboriginal male who is addicted to firsts and beating the odds to pave the way for young mob coming through.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.c

Evie tells a tale about learning how to ride through transition. Evie Ryder is a Skateboarder, Trans Female, pansexual, Film maker, Community activist .She has 20 years social work experience working with LGBTIQAP+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy people and communities. Evie has a history of working in AOD, mental health, sexual health, group work and training. Evie is passionate about visibility and empowerment of all parts of the community. Biggest Achievement for 2020 being voted as a Trans Activist of the year. 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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Maeve Ma

Yen-Rong attempts to let go of a decade-long grudge over a missing atlas. Yen-Rong Wong is a writer of of non-fiction based in Meanjin (Brisbane), on unceded Jaggera and Turrbal land. Her work has appeared in many print and online publications, including The Guardian, Meanjin, and Griffith Review, and she is currently working on her first full length manuscript, Things Left Unsaid. 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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Maeve Marsden on Twitter and Instagram. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fletcher's obsession with a particular piece of rainbow paraphernalia drives this radiographer round the bend. Fletcher Quilty was found face-down in a lovely bog when grunge was on the rise. He writes short-stories, poetry, and theatre. His words can be found in Jacaranda Journal, The Tundish Review, Sugarcane, PASTEL Magazine, and occasionally on a stage. By day (and also by night—it's shift work) Fletcher is a radiographer with Queensland Health. He still smells of peat.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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Maeve Marsden on Twitter and Instagram. See acast.com/p

Roj tells a story about going out, and about the sacred wonder of a queer bar. Roj Amedi is a writer, strategist and human rights campaigner. She is currently the Engagement and Communications Manager at Justice Connect, where she leads a team on advocacy, communications and fundraising. She also serves as a Director of the Human Rights Arts and Film Festival and Overland Journal. Previously, Roj was the Senior Human Rights and Racial Justice Campaigner at Getup, where she expanded the work of Colour Code - a national movement of First Nations and migrant communities for racial justice. Roj contributes regularly to online and print publications including ABC, SBS, Sydney Morning Herald and The Saturday Paper, and broadcast stations such as ABC, SBS and PBS.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 Ha

Michael has a chat with his foster son on one of their regular visits to the dog park. Michael James is a teacher, writer, producer and the current entertainment editor for Qnews magazine. In 2011 Michael and his husband came to prominence as part of the “RipnRoll” campaign that gained international attention and spurred his involvement in queer activism. He has served on the Brisbane Pride Festival committee for 8 years and been an active part of the Brisbane queer community. In 2011 Michael and his husband also became parents to a then 9 year old boy through the Qld foster system who went on to become a permanent part of their lives as they cared for him and grew to become a family with him into his adulthood. He has written about this experience through his blog “Two dads and me.”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 Queerstor

Mads joins the Model UN, changing her life's course and shifting her relationship to expressing her emotions. Madhuraa Prakash, also known as Mads, is an activist, formerly working with PLAN International Australia, and a drag king who performs under the name 'Manish Interest'. Born in Sri Lanka and raised in Australia, she has spoken of her experiences as a queer brown woman on panels for organisations like Women's Agenda and is keen to have another chance to share her voice with her community.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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Maeve Marsden on Twitter and Inst

David ponders maps, memory and a sense of place, while sharing a story of his time in the Sydney University Catholic Society, David Moutou has worked in local government in Western Sydney for the last ten years. Prior to this, he worked for Twenty10, and was a Director and Chairperson of The Aurora Group, a LGBTIQ philanthropic foundation. In the years before YouTube and Smart Phones, David performed as Sandy Toggs at The Imperial Hotel. David is addicted to 1980s style aerobics and has a side hustle as a Civil Marriage Celebrant.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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Ma

Mark, Doonside's resident hopeless romantic, is yet to find his Mr Right. Is he just down on his luck? Or have rom-coms set an astronomically high standard that this chubby gaysian just cannot seem to shake? Mark Mariano is an Australian-born Filipino editor, writer, model, and social media whiz from Doonside on Darug land. Mark works at SBS in an editorial role and is also an active member of SBS Pride’s steering committee. He is also part of the Sweatshop Western Sydney Literary Movement, through which his debut poetry collection ‘Down From Doonside Station’ was published in 2019. Mark has worked closely with organisations such as Headspace and ReachOut, and currently volunteers as the editor for The Western - a community online magazine. Mark has also represented Australia twice at the Harvard University Project for Asian International Relations and was an artist at the 2020 National Young Writers’ Festival. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with reg

An unexpected encounter in the hospital cafeteria awakens Jane, then a young nurse, to a career as a lesbian and an activist. Jane Marsden is a learning and development professional and project manager. She commenced her career in LGBTI+ community organizing and activism in the early eighties. In the early nineties she was appointed to the Board of Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras on which she served for five years. Shortly thereafter she joined the Board of Sydney Gay and Lesbian Community Publishing Ltd (Sydney Star Observer). Jane was also one of nine founding directors of The Aurora Group a wonderful group that raises funds for LGBTQI+ community projects through fabulous arts events. 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 indepen

Miranda lays out their thesis for why everyone should skate.Miranda Aguilar is a proud, queer, Filipinx writer, creative producer and community arts worker. They're passionate about working with young people and providing inclusive, accessible pathways for people to tell their own stories. They write scripts and stories for soft-spoken brown weirdoes, spicy gay nerds and hopeful pessimists.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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Maeve Marsden on Twitter and Instagram. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Naomi finds that growing up a Jehovah's Witness prepared her for 2020 in unexpected ways.As Sydney’s only Lebanese, lesbian, ex-Jehovah’s Witness comedian, Naomi Mourra is your gateway woman to chicks, chickpeas, cults and culture. Her solo show, An Open Book, debuted in 2018 and she has since had sold out runs at the Sydney Fringe Comedy Festival and the Sydney Comedy Festival. She co-founded and co-produced What She Said, Sydney’s first weekly all women's comedy night. Not satisfied with just waffling on stage, she also co-founded Sydney's first bubble waffle cafe in Manly. She is currently working through some issues around feeling the need to do something first.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

Belinda explores the impact of trauma on the body, and considers what is possible for them if they change the way they connect to others, change the way they experience pleasure. Belinda Quinn writes, listens, plays and rests on the lands of the Yuin and Dharawal language groups. They have worked in street press, commercial magazines, in sound and in venues, and have volunteered for community radio. You can read more of their work at belindaquinn.com. 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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow Maeve Marsden on Twitter and Instagram.  See acast.com/privacy

From humble beginnings in Yass, Neisha didn’t expect to end up a circus entertainer traveling the world. She looks back on her childhood and the moments that indicated who she might become. Neisha Murphy is a vibrant variety entertainer and director who blends a mix of physical skill and characterisation with juggling, slack rope, hosting, comedy and a range of dare devil stunts. Neisha has worked for The South African State Theatre, Legs on the Wall, The Hoopla Festival, The Flying Kiwi Circus, Circus Aotearoa and the Kidsfest Festival in New Zealand, Circus Monoxide, Viva la gong festival, Arts Projects Australia in Adelaide, The West Australian Ballet, The Tasmanian Circus Festival, Free Associations production of The Nutcracker, The Circus Proms series with New Zealand’s Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and performed in the famous Spiegeltent in Circus Monoxide’s production of ‘Built’. Neisha is currently developing ‘NE - Non Essential’ which is inspired by the current pandemic crisis and most recentl

A teenage encounter by the water, Schnapps, and memory – Joshua shares his own gentle take on the well-worn coming of age. Joshua Lobb teaches Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong. His stories have appeared in The Bridport Prize Anthology, Best Australian Stories, Animal Studies Journal, Griffith Review, Text, Southerly and Island. His ‘novel in stories’ about grief and climate change, The Flight of Birds (Sydney University Press, 2019) was shortlisted for the 2019 Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and the 2020 Mascara Literary Review Avant Garde Awards for Best Fiction. He is also part of the multi-authored project, 100 Atmospheres: Studies in Scale and Wonder (Open Humanities Press, 2019).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 b

After an encounter at their 30th birthday, Ellen considers friendship, connection and the colonial construct of gender.Ellen van Neerven is an award-winning writer, editor and educator of Mununjali Yugambeh and Dutch heritage with strong ancestral ties to South East Queensland. They write fiction, poetry and non-fiction, and play football on unceded Turrbal and Yuggera land. van Neerven’s books, Heat and Light, Comfort Food and most recently Throat have won countless awards. They are the editor of three collections, including the recent Homeland Calling and are co-editing an upcoming collection of speculative fiction Unlimited Futures with Sudanese multilingual writer Rafeif Ismail.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 books

Being a young queer baby is practically the equivalent of having to be an undercover private investigator to your own sexuality. Pierce tries to find out the basics of gay sex, with hilarious results. Pierce Eldridge is a sensitive gender non-conforming curator and writer based on the Gold Coast; with lavender bulbs blooming for brains. They have a distinct interest in poetry and photography, often blending the two disciplines when discussing the intersections of art, queerness, and contemporary cultural phenomenons. Pierce is actively involved with the Queensland Aids Council, winner of the QC’s President’s Award for Volunteering 2020, and has ambitions of initiating community led workshops, on the coast, to activate safe spaces for queer people.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 Hachett

Performing for 600 people at the Opera House on their 25th birthday, a birthday they never expected to reach, Liv looks back through the years and tells themselves a few things. A dynamic and versatile actor, Liv Hewson is continuing to hone their craft with each new role. They starred in Netflix's hit comedy series, SANTA CLARITA DIET opposite Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, performed in the 2018 feature film PUZZLE directed by Marc Turtletaub and appeared ABC’s hit comedy series BACK IN VERY SMALL BUSINESS. Their role as “Chloe” in the critically acclaimed webseries HOMECOMING QUEENS was another highlight of 2018. Liv featured alongside Zoey Deutch in the big screen adaptation of the bestselling novel, BEFORE I FALL, premiering at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. Other credits include the 2016 Viki original series DRAMAWORLD and ON TOP OF THE LAKE. Liv’s most recent projects include the highly acclaimed feature film BOMBSHELL directed by Jay Roach, playing the role of LILY alongside

Award-winning poet Omar Sakr shares some of his work, inviting the audience into his process and passions.Omar Sakr is an award-winning poet born and raised in Western Sydney to Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. He is the author of These Wild Houses (Cordite Books, 2017), which was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award and the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, as well as The Lost Arabs (University of Queensland Press, 2019), which was shortlisted for the Judith Wright Calanthe Award, the John Bray Poetry Award, the NSW Premier’s Multicultural Literary Award, and the Colin Roderick Award. The Lost Arabs has also been released in the US through Andrews McMeel Universal. In 2019, Omar was the recipient of the Edward Stanley Award for Poetry, and in 2020, the Woollahra Digital Literary Award for Poetry. Omar’s poems have been published in English, Arabic, and Spanish, featuring in the American Academy of Poets’ Poem-a-Day, Prairie Schooner, The Margins, Tinderbox, Wildness, Peril,&nb

Growing up in Mudgee in rural NSW, a young Cadance learns a brutal lesson while out driving with her father.Cadance Bell is an emerging writer, producer and director. She is the CEO and co-founder of production company Wayflair Studios, where she unmakes prejudice through entertainment. Cady was the writer/director of The Rainbow Passage – commissioned by Screen Australia and Network Ten and the award winning comedy horror short Mirror Spider. Selected into Cohort One for the Poplabs Social Impact incubator for next generation startups, Cady has produced & directed dozens of short films, music videos & TVCs. She is a freelance writer, contributing articles for newspapers like The Guardian and is currently in discussions for publication of her dark comedy memoir. Cady very much likes burritos and short walks to the fridge. She is openly transgender and documents her shenanigans on her popular LGTBQIA+ blog at www.iMissPockets.comQueerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Mae