Queerstories

Nadine reflects on an epic love that lasted years but never quite happened.Nadine Chemali is a writer, researcher and social worker. She is dedicated to creating and nurturing communities, facilitating discussions on identity, sexuality, displacement and representation, discourse she feels was missing from her own migrant upbringing in Australia. She has written for publications like SBS Voices, The Big Issue, The Guardian and has spoken at events like Melbourne Writers Festival and Brisbane Feminist Festival. 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 Twitt

Samuel shares a countdown of the key moments from Australian 90s and 00s popculture wthat helped shape the person he would become.Samuel Leighton-Dore is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based on the Gold Coast. With a keen interest in mental health and masculinity, Leighton-Dore writes for SBS Voices and produces work spanning ceramics, LED neon, illustration, animation and painting. His book of illustrations, How To Be A Big Strong Man, was released through Smith Street Books and Simon and Schuster in August 2019. His first solo exhibition, Fragile Masculinity, Handle With Care, formed part of the 2019 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival.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 suppor

Sometimes the inspiration to change your life can come from unlikely places. Sarah shares the story of meeting the person who inspired her to apply for MasterChef Australia.Best known as one of MasterChef Australia’s favourite contestants from 2017 and 2020, Sarah Tiong’s passion for and love of sharing food is a joy to watch and be a part of. Sarah is the successful author of the sensational cookbook Sweet, Savory, Spicy and owner of pop-up market stall Pork Party. However, Sarah wasn’t always chasing her dreams in the hospitality industry. Growing up in a conservative, traditional Chinese-Malaysian family and carving out a career as a lawyer, Sarah found herself facing challenges and expectations to overcome in order to follow her passion and create her own path.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.To conclude Queerstories 2020, this episode features stories about community, or rather, about the impact on so many of us when we lost access to community in 2020.Miss Katalyna is a proud Samoan Fa’afafine/Transwoman. She is the host of Australia’s first LGBTQIA+ multicultural cooking show presented by Thorne Harbour Health, one of the three founders of Trans Pride March Melbourne, and a founding member of Trans Sisters United. She’s a member of Victoria’s first Pasifika LGBTQIA+ organisation, as well as being a Youtuber, music DJ and Remixer.Alex Gallagher is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working on unceded Gadigal land. Their work has appeared in Overland, The Guardian, Vice, Junkee and Kill Your Darlings, among others. Their first book, 'Parenthetical Bodies', was released in 2017. They’re also a bassist and singer in qu

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.This week’s episodes are about belonging, and on that feeling of home you get when you're with the people you love.Valerie Berry is a Filipino Australian actor, performance maker, theatre educator and emerging director. She grew up in country South Australia, Ceduna, part of the traditional lands of the Wirangu people. She has worked presented work with Sydney Festival, Asia TOPA 2020, National Theatre of Parramatta, Polyglot Theatre, Blacktown Arts Centre, Theatre Kantanka, Urban Theatre Projects, Belvoir, Branch Nebula, Vitalstatistix, Performance Space, ActNow Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, Performing Lines, State Theatre Company of South Australia and Bell Shakespeare. She is one of the mentors and facilitators for CuriousWorks Beyond Refuge emerging makers program.Nevo Zisin is a queer, non-binary, Jewish writer, performer, ac

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.Stories about the experiences queers have that can equip us to deal with the challenges thrown at us, our strength and resilience, how we navigate communication and manage our relationships in different ways.Zoya Gill grew up in London but lived sitting across worlds. In a sentence, they’re a mixed-race, trans non-binary East African Indian, who spent chunks of their life in Kenya, and moved to Melbourne in their early 20s. A former high school teacher, they are now a public servant and a host of Tuesday Breakfast on 3CR Community Radio.Mark du Potiers is a sculptor who is Meanjin / Brisbane born, raised, and based; he also happens to be an Australian with Hongkonger and Chinese heritage. Mark’s experiences and anxieties of being a person of colour feature in the outcomes of his practice, as well as explorations of the additional com

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.In a year where it was often risky to simply go outside, Maeve and Trent reflect on risks they've taken in their own lives, with either positive or disastrous consequences.Maeve Marsden is a writer, director, producer and performer who works across both main stage and fringe / independent venues and festivals. She is the curator of Queerstories, has toured critically acclaimed cabaret productions internationally, and in 2020 was a member of Belvoir Theatre's Phillip Parson's Early Career Playwright's Lab. A well respected cultural commentator and creative, she is regularly called upon to host and curate panels and events for festivals around the country, and as an opinion writer, essayist and critic, her work has been published widely. She likes dancing, gin, and TV melodramas with good ethics and bad dialogue.Trent Wallace lives on

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.These stories are about connection to culture and community, how that was impacted by the pandemic and lockdowns, and about the very specific connection that comes through desire. Atul Joshi is first up. A former classical musician, Atul lives in NSW's Southern Highlands and works at Bundanon Trust in the Shoalhaven. He has published both fiction and non-fiction widely, and has just completed his Master of Arts in Creative Writing at UTS. Atul recorded this story at home earlier in the year, then I was thrilled to be able to invite him to perform at Queerstories in Wollongong in October, one of our first shows back, in partnership with Wollongong City Libraries.Sarah Asumadu is a writer and poet. Sarah has written and performed with the Floating Key collective at Melbourne Fringe Festival, she has also contributed to the ‘Where

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.This week’s stories pertain to a haunting of sorts, from the paranormal to the pathological.Queenie Bon Bon is a writer, performance artist and sex worker living and working in Narrm/melbourne. Their work focuses on labour and the body. They have created four full length shows - which have toured in Australia, Europe and North America. Their work has been featured on locanto, backpage and in Maximum Rock and Roll and The Lifted Brow. They are a member of Australian sex worker art collective Debby Doesn't Do It For Free and have been part of the Scarlet Alliance executive committee for 5 years. They are the 2020 Recipient of Firstdraft's Writers Program.Victoria Zerbst is a political satirist, comedy writer and performer for The Feed on SBS. She is a co-founder of the Sydney-based comedy collective Freudian Nip and the 2020

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.These stories are about the things that can give you purpose and meaning in the face of destabilising change.Bronte Noakes has worked with children and young people since they were a child, wiping tears, noses and bums and chasing kids til the cows come home. They're in their Honours year studying Psychology and were one of the first ex-campers to volunteer for Camp Out, a NSW camp for LGBTQI+ teens. When they’re not studying, they’re playing AFL for Sydney Uni or spending time underwater.Sarah Langston is a queer, disabled, neurodiverse single mother of a disabled non binary kiddo. Her professional background is in early childhood education and ECE advocacy, and she’s currently studying bush regeneration while full time parenting in quarantine with her child. Her main activism focus is advocacy for children and adults with ADHD in e

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.As if the internet wasn’t already awash with enough flat earthers and people who think they’re aliens, 2020 brought us a whole new onslaught of religious fervour. These next two writers were inspired, this year, to delve into their own cult-ish connections.Michael Sun is the Culture Editor at Netflix ANZ via Junkee. This year, he is the Kill Your Darlings New Critic, where he writes a regular column blending memoir and criticism of queer work, and his freelance writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Monthly, Vice, ABC Arts, Overland, Liminal Magazine, and more. In his spare time, he’s a freelance graphic designer, he co-hosts the Saturday Lunch show on FBi Radio, and he’s a Board Member of Firstdraft Gallery.Ernest Price is a writer and former teacher. He works as the Education Officer at the Victorian Association for the Tea

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.Stories about grief, about the way the pandemic impacted our rituals of loss, and the impact of lockdowns on grieving, connection and memory.Patrick Lenton is the Editor of Junkee. He is the author of the short story collection 'A Man Made Entirely of Bats' and the essay collection 'Uncle Hercules and Other Lies'.Aurelia St Clair is a German Cameroonian Melbournian comedian, writer, actor. In 2017 she reached the Victorian State finals of the Raw Comedy Competition and she’s since performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2018 and 2019, the Melbourne and Sydney Fringe Festivals and Brisbane Funnyfest. She worked as a correspondent and writer for Channel 31s The Leak from 2017-18, co-hosted In Joke on Syn 90.7 FM in 2018 and 2019, and received the Stand Up! Grant, an initiative by the Andrews Labour Government, in 20

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.The stories of this series were recorded in sharehouse bedrooms and bathrooms, on outback properties and in suburban homes, rather than at the big celebratory Queerstories events of the past five years. These stories are both about home, and about how our perspective on home shifted in 2020.Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen is a Vietnamese-Australian writer based in Melbourne. Her work has been featured in publications including Meanjin, The Saturday Paper, Kill Your Darlings, SBS Voices, Rookie and frankie. She was an inaugural recipient of The Wheeler Centre's Next Chapter fellowship in 2018, and works by day as a bookseller and copywriter.Farz Edraki is a writer, editor, TV producer and researcher whose credits include Tonightly with Tom Ballard and The House with Annabel Crabb. In 2019, she co-hosted the podcast Bite the Ballot and is curr

Queerstories 2020 is a special series of the Queerstories podcast recorded during the lockdown months of 2020, featuring LGBTQI+ storytellers reflecting on the events of the year.This episode's stories both speak to medical intervention, to fear and to hope, and they’re both about pandemics, in their own way.Holly Zwalf is a queer solo parent by choice who lives in a little log cabin in the bush with her wild child. She’s a filmmaker, freelance writer, performer, and smutty spoken word artist, and in her spare time, of which she has none, she is the coordinator of Rainbow Families QLD.Kerry Bashford is a writer, journalist, editor and producer living in Newcastle. He started his queer career as a baby activist, organising rallies at the age of 18 in 1982, before escaping south to the big smoke. After several years of apprenticeship in gay, street and independent presses, like Campaign, and countless queer arts endeavours, like Wicked Women, he scored a job at Ninemsn where he worked as Producer of Online Port

Having moved to the Netherlands to meet his gay donor father, a young hetero-ish male - raised by lesbian parents - explores his sexuality and queer identity.  Michael Kruger is a published author, screenwriter and probably the most overly-sensitive new-age boy working full-time in sports media. He was raised by his two mums in Melbourne, but as gay luck would have it, he looks almost exactly like his donor dad. Michael is finishing a book about his queer family, and about his experience of moving to the Netherlands as a 22 year old to get to know his father.  Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, 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 And for gay

Brenna remembers her desperate campaign to convince her mothers to give her a sibling. Brenna Harding is an actor, board member of Wear it Purple, founder of Moonlight Feminist and LGBT rights advocate. She’s performed in productions for Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, The Old Fitz Theatre, Belvoir St, Malthouse and Griffin Theatre Company. She is best known for her role in Puberty Blues but you might have also seen her in Secret City, The Code, My Place, Packed to the Rafters, A Place to Call Home and Netflix’s Black Mirror, directed by Jodie Foster. In 2012, Brenna won the Logie for Most Popular New Female Talent and in 2014 received the Marie Bashir Peace Prize for her contribution to social justice. In 2018, Brenna was a Heath Ledger Scholarship finalist. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and follow Queerstories on Facebook. The Queers

An everyday story about the perils of dating while trans while face-blind with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Tea Uglow is a founder member of Google’s Creative Lab where she works on a range of projects with cultural organisations and practitioners using digital tools to amplify or augment their artistic practice. She has published 4 books including the recent Loud and Proud anthology of LGBTQ+ speeches, and was awarded a Peabody for digital storytelling in 2018. Tea likes pop-physics, behavioural psychology, and shopping. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, 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 And for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow me - Mae

Marlee pens a love letter of sorts to her nail technician, the queerest of queer babes who's excellence and creativity makes her feel powerful. Marlee Jane Ward is a writer living on Wurundjeri Land. She is the author of the award-winning Orphancorp trilogy and is currently living her dream of being someone's fabulous goth aunt. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, 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 And for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow me - Maeve Marsden - on Twitter and Instagram.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ana Maria has a panic attack on the 19, and reflects on how dressing up can be a coping mechanism for neurodiverse queers. Ana Maria Gomides is a 28-year-old, 167cm tall, Brown babe living in Narrm; usually a top but will switch for qts who ask nicely; not gay as in happy, but queer as in doesn’t give a shit about the junk you’re packing; non-monogs, currently in an open relationship with herself; mostly here cos her therapist told her to date more; primarily looking for: compliments and validation. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, 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 And for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow me - Maeve Marsden - on Twit

Dennis goes on a walk down memory lane, all the way to the Adelaide Festival 1988. Dennis Altman first came to attention with the publication of his book Homosexual: Oppression & Liberation in 1972. His most recent book Unrequited Love: Diary of an Accidental Activist was published last year. Dennis is Emeritus Professor and Professorial Fellow in the Institute for Human Security at LaTrobe University. He was President of the AIDS Society of Asia and the Pacific and has been a Board member of Oxfam Australia. He is an Ambassador for the Human Rights Law Centre and Patron Australian Lesbian and Gay Archives and the Pride Foundation. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, 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, bec