Shows
Queerstories335 Damien Webb - Blak Lady MosesDamien shares a story of his ancestors, connecting it to his present, to crossing oceans and preserving stories.Damien Webb is a proud member of the Palawa Diaspora, originally from Lutruwita (Tasmania). He has worked in state libraries for over 13 years, and he is currently Manager of the Indigenous Engagement Branch at the State Library of New South Wales. He performed this story at a special Queerstories event at the State Library in June 2023.Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit...
2023-09-0411 min
Queerstories309 Aurelia St Clair - Playboy Bunnies and First JobsAurelia 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 Fac...
2022-12-1210 min
Queerstories255 Jane Marsden - My AwakeningAn 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...
2021-08-1610 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Community | Miss Katalyna & Alex GallagherQueerstories 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’...
2021-03-0132 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Belonging | Valerie Berry & Nevo ZisinQueerstories 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 Ar...
2021-02-0930 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Resilience | Zoya Gill and Mark du PotiersQueerstories 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 ea...
2021-01-1832 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Risk | Maeve Marsden & Trent WallaceQueerstories 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...
2021-01-1130 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Connection | Atul Joshi and Sarah AsumaduQueerstories 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 a...
2021-01-0432 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Haunting | Queenie Bon Bon and Victoria ZerbstQueerstories 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...
2020-12-2836 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Purpose | Bronte Noakes and Sarah LangstonQueerstories 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+...
2020-12-2231 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Conspiracy | Michael Sun & Ernest PriceQueerstories 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 blen...
2020-12-1525 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Grief | Patrick Lenton & Aurelia St ClairQueerstories 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...
2020-12-0731 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Home | Giselle Au Nhien Nguyen & Farz EdrakiQueerstories 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...
2020-12-0727 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Family | Enoch Mailangi and Nayuka & Witt GorrieQueerstories 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 queer, blak family, both in the general sense and also in a very specific sense; they’re about one particular queer and blak family.Enoch Mailangi is a TV writer and text-based artist based in Lakemba. They are a 2020 Sydney Theatre Company Emerging Playwright, a 2020 Urban Theatre Project Resident Artist, and an MFA student at NIDA.Nayuka Gorrie is a Kurnai/Gunai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri an...
2020-12-0720 min
QueerstoriesQueerstories 2020 | Pandemic | Holly Zwalf & Kerry BashfordQueerstories 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...
2020-12-0737 min
Queerstories228 Ellen Van Neervan - ThroatEllen shares poems from their most recent collection Throat, along with insights as to their creative process and inspiration for the work.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 book, 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...
2020-08-1313 min
Queerstories227 Sally Rugg - BeansWhen Sally fell in love with Kate she knew she'd found something special, but she wasn't ready for the real romance: her relationship with Kate's cat Beans.Sally Rugg is an LGBTIQ rights activist, writer and public speaker. She is Executive Director at political activist group change.org, and was previously Campaign Director at GetUp where she lead the campaign for marriage equality for five years. She wrote to How Powerful We Are, her first book, about that campaign.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For...
2020-08-1114 min
Queerstories226 Johnny Valkyrie - The Magic of MisfortuneJohnny weaves a tale of two cities, and of his queer family history.Johnny Valkyrie is an activist and educator. He was awarded Young Transgender Person of the Year 2019 by the Queensland Council of LGBTI+ Health. Johnny enjoys florals, galleries and retro knickknacks.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.T...
2020-07-2311 min
Queerstories225 Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen - How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The BumAfter watching a life-changing episode of Broad City, Giselle's life is filled by a new and consuming passion.Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen was a recipient of The Wheeler Centre's inaugural Next Chapter fellowship. Her writing has appeared in BuzzFeed, frankie, Junkee, Kill Your Darlings and Meanjin, and she was a regular columnist for Daily Life throughout 2016. She has appeared at Melbourne Writers Festival, National Young Writers' Festival and Women of Letters. Giselle is the commissioning editor for Feminist Writers Festival and a bookseller at Readings. She likes animals, vegan cooking, comics, cycling and inappropriate nap times.Queerstori...
2020-07-2109 min
Queerstories224 Claire Christian - Dreams Do Come TrueJust before her first book launch, Claire is given an unexpected gift by her friend: the self-published adolescent masterpiece of a rom com she wrote when she was 14.Claire Christian is a playwright, author and theatre maker, who has spent a lot of career working with teenagers. Her first novel, Beautiful Mess won the Text Publishing Text Prize in 2016. Her play Lysa and The Freeborn Dames debuted at La Boite in 2018. She directed Michelle Law's smash hit comedy Single Asian Female. And her next novel will be released in October. Claire has a pug named Midge, a...
2020-07-1619 min
Queerstories223 Nina Oyama - Scott Morrison Sucks Dicks For JesusNina becomes famous on twitter for cum jokes and it doesn't wholly end well.Nina Oyama is a stand up comic, writer, actress and worm girl who needs you and loves you and will hold you in her arms, upon request. She has performed all around Australia and has written for radio, stage and TV. She was a writer on Tonightly with Tom Ballard, appeared as Courtney on Utopia on ABC, and is also writer/director of comedy web series The Angus Project which was part of ABC's Fresh Blood 2017 initiative. Last year, Screen Australia selected Nina...
2020-07-1416 min
Queerstories222 Chris Brown - Bad Teenage PoetryChris has kept all of his teenage diaries. They are full of stories about high school, his first crummy job, girls that he thought that he liked, family arguments, his mum, his strong religious beliefs and him maybe being gay.Chris Brown grew up in the small coastal suburb of Stockton, in a deeply religious household. Chris works in Community Services as the coordinator of a vibrant and bustling Community Centre. He is a practicing artist and photographer, currently working on a photography project called 'Intertidal' which seeks to explore the changing socio-political environment of Newcastle, where...
2020-07-0913 min
Queerstories221 Sian Gammie - Replacing Your Gorilla SuitSian shares a story about friendship, getting massages and arguing about Jesus.Sian Gammie is a writer and an English teacher who loves seating plans, Mrs Doubtfire and her mum. She has written for the Sydney Morning Herald and the ABC, and blogs at thesianshow.comQueerstories 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 B...
2020-07-0710 min
Queerstories220 Will Kostakis - My Father Haunts MeWhen Will's career as an author takes off at just 19, he writes many stories about his father's absence, but it would take a few more years before he considered trying to find him.Will Kostakis is a writer of all things, from celebrity news stories that score cease and desist letters, to tweets for professional wrestlers. He's best known for his award-winning Young Adult fiction. His first novel, Loathing Lola, was released when he was just 19. His second, The First Third, won the 2014 Gold Inky Award and was shortlisted for the Children's Book Council of Australia Book...
2020-07-0209 min
Queerstories219 Aunty Denise McGuinness - Get That CheckedAunty Denise yarns about family.Aunty Denise McGuinness is a Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri woman based in Melbourne. She's a proud mum to Robert, Chantel and Dawn, as well as a grandmother to Eli Dennis and Nate John. She works in community health at the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service and since her success in the Deadly Funny comedy competition she has been performing locally at conferences and NAIDOC week events.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and...
2020-06-3014 min
Queerstories218 Tarsha Jago - The Catholic AboriginalTarsha shares a story of faith, family and identity.Tarsha Jago is a law student and Project Officer, Drug Policy and Reform at Department of Health & Human Services, Victoria.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The new Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be purchased on Booktopia.To support Queerstories, become a patron at www.patreon.com/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay s...
2020-06-2509 min
Queerstories217 Isobel Morphy-Walsh - Bimbadan Ba DoranbuIn the beginning and now, a story of body, country and connection.Isobel Morphy-Walsh, a proud Nirim Baluk Woman from the Taun Wurrung (Taungurung) people. She is a lover of anecdote, an artist, an activist, an educator and weaver. Isobel has spent her life working with her community and culture with a particular emphasis on history and its relevance to today. For the last three years, Isobel has worked inside museums with Victorian First Peoples histories, stories and cultures. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Q...
2020-06-2314 min
Queerstories216 Nayuka Gorrie - TherapySometimes imagining a little murder is the only way Nayuka can get through the day.Nayuka Gorrie is a Kurnai/Gunai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta writer who's been published by The Guardian Australia, NITV, Junkee, the Saturday Paper, the Lifted Brow, Kill Your Darlings and Archer Magazine. They were a Wheeler Centre Next Chapter recipient in 2018, and they've written for TV including Black Comedy, Get Krackin! and The Heights.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 Q...
2020-06-1107 min
Queerstories216 Tarneen Onus-Williams - Grief is WeirdAfter a trip to Wiradjuri country and a chat with Aunty Pat Doolan, Tarneen considers their relationship to grief.Tarneen Onus Williams is a Yigar Gunditjmara, Bindal, Yorta Yorta person. Tarneen is a community organiser for Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance and is passionate about prison abolition and the power of young Aboriginal people. They are a writer and have been published in IndigenousX, The Saturday Paper, NITV and RightNow. They currently work at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For...
2020-06-0913 min
Queerstories215 Rosa Campbell - I Really, Queerly Love YouRosa tells a story of the British general election campaign 2019 as a tale of queer romance and heartbreak.Rosa Campbell is completing her PhD in history at the University of Cambridge. This project sets Australian women's liberation between 1968-1990 in a global context. She has been active in movements for gender justice both in Sydney and London. She writes fiction and non-fiction on a range of platforms for both adults and children. Her star sign is Virgo but her rising - which is what really matters of course- is reconstructed Marxist. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ s...
2020-06-0413 min
Queerstories214 Raelee Lancaster - I Love My Stardew Valley GirlfriendsRaelee doesn't need the escapism Stardew Valley provides because of family drama; it is the rest of the world that's the problem.Raelee Lancaster is a Brisbane-based writer, collaborator, and creative producer. She is Co Director of the National Young Writers Festival and a 2019 recipient of the Copyright Agency First Nations Fellowship. Her work has featured in exhibitions around Australia and Berlin as well as in publications such as Cordite Poetry Review, The Saturday Paper, Overland, and more. Raised on Awabakal land, Raelee is descended from the Wiradjuri and Biripi peoples. She tweets @raeleelancasterQueerstories...
2020-06-0209 min
Queerstories213 David Mejia-Canales - The IlopangoIn 1891 the Ilopango Volcano rained catastrophe on the People of Cuzcatlan and forced one woman David will never meet to set off a series of events that created him.David Mejia-Canales is beyond proud to have Mayan blood running through his veins and calls Wurundjeri Country home. He is a community lawyer dedicated to turning our criminal legal system into a system of justice, particularly for queer people of colour. 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 Que...
2020-05-2813 min
Queerstories212 Tasnim Rahman - Non-Binary WhineryWith language and storytelling not their forte, Tasnim can't quite believe they were asked to appear at Queerstories. They take the opportunity to chronicle their history of identity and communication.Tasnim Rahman is training as a neurobiologist, currently finishing a PhD in psychiatry. They hope to alleviate suffering from mental illness and marginalisation, and increase accessibility to safety and independence via advocacy and science. Tas was a panelist for Sydney Mardi Gras Queer Thinking panel ‘What it means to be non binary' event, and previously has been a part of ACON's ‘Pride in Training' videos and ‘Improving the He...
2020-05-2610 min
Queerstories211 Salvin Kumar - How My Brown Family Reacted To My Gay WeddingSalvin delivers the raw curry drama that is part of every wedding but with the added spice of it being a gay one.Salvin Kumar is a Youth Worker who supports young newly arrived migrants and refugees in St George and Sutherland Shire. He has worked as a teacher in Fiji, Western Sydney, Townsville and Doomadgee before moving back to Sydney to become a social worker. He practices yoga, loves cooking, writes poetry and is currently writing a book. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Q...
2020-05-2110 min
Queerstories210 Sam Elkin - I'll Ride With YouWorking at a community legal centre, Sam makes an unlikely friend.Sam Elkin is a writer, podcaster and community lawyer living in Melbourne's West. In 2018 Sam set up Victoria's first LGBTIQ legal service at Thorne Harbour Health, and launched a specialist trans and gender diverse legal service in partnership with Transgender Victoria. Sam is also one half of the Joy FM radio show Transgender Warriors. 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.Th...
2020-05-1912 min
Queerstories209 Dmetri Kakmi - How I learned to stop being scared and love the monsterGrowing up, Dmetri was obsessed with horror movies. Despite their terrifying content, horror movies saved his life.Dmetri Kakmi was born in Turkey to Greek parents. His fictionalised memoir Mother Land was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and is published in England and Turkey. His short stories and essays appear in a number of anthologies, and his latest book is The Door and other Uncanny Tales.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 F...
2020-05-1413 min
Queerstories208 Matthew Wade - Unspoken EtiquetteMatthew moves to Melbourne and starts to explore his sexuality at sex-on-premises venues.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/ladysingsitbetterAnd for gay stuff and insomnia rants follow me - Maeve Marsden - on Twitter and Instagram.See...
2020-05-1208 min
Queerstories207 Lacey Jade Christie - Yes DayLacey-Jade Christie has the gayest day of her life, on the day the public votes 'yes' for marriage equality, but it's not for the reasons one might expect.Lacey-Jade Christie is a freelance writer and fiery Melbourne-based plus-size influencer. She combines her life as a nurse with her own experience of mental illness and is a strong advocate for safe spaces for the BoPo and Queer community to come together through her writing and her work as the Deputy State Director of Out For Australia an organisation that seeks to support and mentor aspiring LGBTIQ professionals.
2020-05-0708 min
Queerstories206 Hannah Mouncey - $30,000 later, all I wanted was the Qantas pointsHannah shares a story about a piece of shit who keeps ruining her life.Hannah Mouncey is a member of Australia's Women's Handball team and a writer for The Guardian, The Roar, News.com.au and Players Voice.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 p...
2020-05-0509 min
Queerstories205 David Abello - Demented in the Palace of DreamsDavid's life with his mother Patricia is not without challenges - caring for someone with dementia is hard - but he cherishes their Sundays at the Bankstown Sportsclub.David Abello became involved in the lesbian and gay movement in 1975 and in 1980s was a member of the Gay Liberation Quire and the Gaywaves Gay Radio Collective amongst other things. He's been active in the disability movement since the 1980s and in membership-based organisations concerned with employment, multicultural advocacy and housing. In the late 1990s he was a founding member of the queer disability activist group, Access Plus – Sp...
2020-04-3015 min
Queerstories204 Lian Low - The CityLian grapples with the anxiety of meeting a partner's mother for the first time.Lian Low is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. From 2009-2016, Lian was an editor and a board member of Peril. Lian is a recipient of The Wheeler Centre's inaugural Next Chapter scheme and currently working on a young adult speculative fiction novel. 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...
2020-04-2810 min
Queerstories203 Samuel Leighton Dore - I really want to introduce you to my mumWhen Samuel was a kid, the fact his mother was a sex therapist embarrassed him. Now that's he's a grown up, he's so proud of her he wants to talk about it on stage.Samuel Leighton-Dore is a multidisciplinary artist and writer based on the Gold Coast. Sam writes for SBS Life and produces work spanning ceramics, LED neon, illustration, animation and painting. His book of illustrations, How To Be A Big Strong Man, was released in August 2019. His first solo exhibition, Fragile Masculinity, Handle With Care, formed part of this year's Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gr...
2020-04-2309 min
Queerstories202 Sandy O'Sullivan - Museum QueeriesSandy reflects on their research into museums, the gays and the gaze, and their place in academia as a queer Indigenous person.Associate Professor Sandy O'Sullivan is a Wiradjuri academic, researcher and creative practitioner. Their research and teaching include queer studies, art and design, built environment, music, performance, and cultural representation, with a particular focus on First Nations' agency and aspiration. Sandy was the inaugural director of the Centre for Collaborative First Nations' Research. Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.m...
2020-04-2113 min
Queerstories201 Holly Zwalf - Why I Find it Hard to CumFrom home insemination to pregnant dating on Tinder, Holly explores the difficulties of achieving an orgasm as a solo parent by choice.Holly Zwalf lives with her wild toddler in a log cabin in the bush. She's a filmmaker, freelance writer, performer, and smutty spoken word artist, and is the coordinator of Rainbow Families Queensland.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 b...
2020-04-1611 min
Queerstories200 Natalie Ironfield - Attending to GhostsA story about the haunting nature of settler-colonialism and the importance of attending to the memories of ghosts.Natalie Ironfield belongs to the Dharug Nation and has been living on Wurundjeri land since 2013. Natalie is a Lecturer and Tutor at The University of Melbourne, teaching across disciplines of Indigenous studies, criminology and political science. Natalie is a photographer and wannabe DJ, and her writing has appeared in Un Magazine.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 o...
2020-04-1408 min
Queerstories199 Joan Westenberg - Let Me Pass You A NoteJoan Westenberg talks about her journey to becoming a writer, by overcoming a speech impediment and finding a voice of her own.Joan Westenberg is a Sydney based tech writer. She has been published in Inc.com, the SF Chronicle, Observer, The Saturday Paper, The Big Smoke, Crikey and over 40 other publications. Joan is the author of an open source transgender inclusion policy in use by multiple technology companies. 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...
2020-04-0908 min
Queerstories198 Anton Enus - My Brief and Glorious CareerAnton remembers his childhood growing up in Durban, South Africa, and reflects on the lessons he learnt from the local drag queens.Anton Enus has been a news broadcaster for three and a half decades. He has worked as a news reporter, producer and presenter on two continents. He has been on assignment to numerous African states, including Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 1999 he has anchored SBS World News and has occasionally been a guest presenter on SBS Insight. His bucket list includes finishing that fiction manuscript that has for years been gathering...
2020-04-0713 min
Queerstories197 Shaun D'Souza - For BhoorahShaun reflects on their history, on the Hijra community and Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, on colonialism, genocide and queer authenticity.Shaun D'Souza is a Brisbane based youth worker and LGBTIQ+ artivist, as well as a firm enthusiast of naps, books and tea. Shaun is often found dabbling in social artivism via visual media and spoken word poetry. Their current projects include tackling transgender-homelessness in Brisbane and advocating for queer people of colour visibility through art and community building.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia...
2020-04-0215 min
Queerstories196 Andrew Little - Births, Deaths and MicroficheAndrew tells the tale of the search for his birth mother while juggling the effects of HIV, the demands of drug trials and the perils of microfiche.Andrew has had a long career in social work and pursuing social justice. For eight years, he headed up the first cross London program to support people living with HIV to go back to work, coordinating the support provided by multiple HIV organisations. Once that program wound down, he moved on to set up a London-wide disabled peoples' peak organisation called ‘Inclusion London' advocating for the rights of people with dis...
2020-03-3113 min
Queerstories195 Kristian Reyes - Mummy's BoyKristian shares an homage to his mother, his greatest ally as a young boy growing up in Western Sydney.Kristian Reyes is a queer, wog, socialist who grew up south of the Gong. For paid labour, he works in the anti-violence sector and has worked across Sydney in education and youth health for the past 13 years. During this time, he has also volunteered with Twenty10, the Gay and Lesbian Counselling Service as well as most recently, with Camp Out. Outside of these hours, Kristian seems to find himself making YouTube videos with his mum, enjoying suburban Earlwood...
2020-03-0511 min
Queerstories194 Eloise Brooke - Fighting Nazis With NewslettersLast year, Eloise rebooted one of the longest running transgender newsletters in Australia - Polare. She reflects on her expectations, what she learnt about her community's history, and whether you really can fight nazis with newsletters.Eloise Brook is a writer, advocate and academic. Her current researchprojects include; trans people in public health and developing models formedia representation of trans in the Media. Ella also works at the GenderCentre.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit w...
2020-03-0311 min
Queerstories193 Cadance Bell - Small TalkThree years before she transitioned genders, Cadance was a fat, depressed guy buying weed from bikie gangs and nursing a near killer blood clot. Then came a surprising chat.Cadance Bell is a writer and filmmaker. Her new documentary film The Rainbow Passage, a co-production with Screen Australia, airs next year on Channel Ten. The film, which Cady also directed, follows her and her wiggly bottomed fiance Amanda across a year in their gender transitions. Cady loves Pokemon Go, short walks to the fridge and the swell challenges of girlifying. Except not having pockets anymore. She really...
2020-02-2512 min
Queerstories192 Felicity Nicol - The FightFelicity considers the stories from her life she could share, but ultimately decides to make her slam poetry debut at Queerstories.Felicity Nicol is an award-winning director. Since graduating from NIDA, her career highlights include directing at The Sydney Opera House, creating a one-on-one performance for audiences in a moving car, directing a non-verbal performative memorial via clowning, beer and a slide-show, and co-directing Take My Hand, where she married strangers for ten minutes in Copenhagen. Felicity is a recipient of an Australia Council for the Arts Grant, an Ian Potter Grant, a Mike Walsh Fellowship, and s...
2020-02-2014 min
Queerstories191 Hajer - Speakeasies Ain't For Speaking EasyHajer grew up with fairytales and fantasies, but adullt life brings its own adventures, with speakeasy bars, class exchanges and one confused baby queer. Hajer is an emerging writer and performer. From short stories to essays to plays, her work flirts with themes of womanhood particularly within Arab diaspora identity formation. She is currently interrogating and experimenting with feminine and masculine archetypal traditions, within folklore, fairy-tale and fable style storytelling. She most recently made her screen writing and acting debut in the all new ABC webseries ‘Halal Gurls' exclusively on ABC Iview. Queerstories is an LGBT...
2020-02-1809 min
Queerstories190 Amy Middleton - Travel ScarsA story of love, loss, and lifelong wounds.Amy Middleton is a Melbourne-based journalist and founder of Archer Magazine. Amy has written and edited for dozens of magazines, produced radio for 3CR and Joy FM, and been nominated for Young Australian of the Year. She also plays AFL footy and collects interesting editions of Alice in Wonderland.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, an...
2020-02-1312 min
Queerstories189 AJ Lamarque - The 3-Day GayA morality tale, or perhaps a fairytale, about Sydney, self-love and manhunt.comAJ Lamarque is a Sydney-based Queer comedian who's performed across Sydney including a solo show, ‘Queerly Beloved', and appearances at a bunch of variety nights. With a mission to increase queer voices in the comedy scene AJ produces popular, queer-storytelling podcast Dungeons & Drag Kweens and the regular comedy night Kweens of Comedy on Oxford Street.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 Face...
2020-02-1108 min
Queerstories188 Fiona Wright - DisappearingFiona Wright ponders the reasons people never seem to know she's queer.Fiona Wright is a writer, editor and critic. Her book of essays Small Acts of Disappearance won the 2016 Kibble Award and the Queensland Literary Award for non-fiction. Her poetry collections are Knuckled, which won the 2012 Dame Mary Gilmore Award, and Domestic Interior, which was shortlisted for the 2018 Prime Minister's Literary Award. Her new essay collection is The World Was Whole.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, a...
2020-02-0609 min
Queerstories187 Alison Whittaker - Squattocrat Bodybuilder Ex-WifeAlison Whittaker pens a queer Aboriginal love letter to Barnaby Joyce and long-standing Gunnedah haven, the Chip Inn.Alison Whittaker is a Gomeroi writer and lawyer born and raised in Gunnedah. She is Senior Researcher at the Jumbunna Institute. From 2017-18, she was a Fulbright recipient at Harvard Law, where she was Dean's Scholar in Race, Gender and Criminal Law. Alison's latest book, BLAKWORK (Magabala 2018), was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, and received the Queensland Literary Award for Poetry. @AJ_WhittakerQueerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night...
2020-02-0410 min
Queerstories186 Mystery Carnage - Logical and BiologicalMystery reflects on her family history, on the power of DNA and on her relationship with her mother.Mystery Carnage has recently made the smelter change and moved to Port Kembla with her partner Nellie and cat Queenie. After working at Apple for 5 years and as a graphic artist for 20 years before that, she now spends a fair amount of time gardening, doing woodwork or at ALDI and Bunnings. She was a singer with the 80s band the Stray Dags, is a 78er and has shown her artwork in shared and solo exhibitions at several galleries in...
2020-01-3014 min
Queerstories185 Kirsty Webeck - History RepeatingComedian Kirsty Webeck remembers the heady days of high school.Kirsty Webeck entered the Australian comedy circuit in 2013 in an unconventional way. After doing a five minute set at the end of a comedy workshop she, having never heard of an open mic room, launched straight into writing and performing a full length show. She's a regular guest on ABC radio and in 2018, she was the featured comedian on an episode of The ABC's “Tonightly With Tom Ballard.” She also toured regional WA in 2019 with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow, and opened for Joel Creasey at sold...
2020-01-2810 min
Queerstories184 Nina Oyama - Ashlee's PartyA teenage Nina Oyama tries her hand at assimilating into white North Shore culture in Sydney. It doesn't work out.Nina Oyama is a stand up comic, writer, actress and worm girl who needs you and loves you and will hold you in her arms, upon request. She has performed all around Australia and has written for radio, stage and TV. She was a writer on Tonightly with Tom Ballard, appeared as Courtney on Utopia on ABC, and is also writer/director of comedy web series The Angus Project which was part of ABC's Fresh Blood 2017 initiative.
2020-01-2315 min
Queerstories183 Patrick Lenton - Nemesis CultureWhen you have a nemesis, you seek revenge via whatever means you can - according to Patrick Lenton, that's queer culture.Patrick Lenton is a writer and author based in Sydney. He is the Editor of Junkee, and has published a book of short stories called A Man Made Entirely of Bats and a book of essays called Uncle Hercules and Other Lies.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 bo...
2020-01-2114 min
Queerstories182 Roz Bellamy - Problematic FavesRoz ponders that great modern conundrum: the problematic fave.Roz Bellamy is a freelance writer, researcher, and educator. Their work has appeared in Archer Magazine, The Big Issue, Daily Life, Huffington Post, Junkee, Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin, and SBS. They won the Stonnington Prize for Poetry in 2016 and their memoir writing was shortlisted for the Scribe Nonfiction Prize. You can read their writing at www.rozbellamy.com.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.
2020-01-1610 min
Queerstories181 Bastian Fox Phelan - Stove PhotographyBastian is trying to understand why they keep taking photos of the stove. So, they decide to write about it.Bastian Fox Phelan is a writer, musician and zinemaker who lives in Newcastle on the land of the Awabakal people. They were shortlisted for the 2017 Scribe Nonfiction Prize, their writing has been published in The Lifted Brow, Runway, Scum Magazine and Tincture Journal, and they're currently working on a literary memoir signed to Giramonda Publishing. Bastian works with Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and National Young Writers' Festival to deliver their popular Zine Fair events, and they...
2020-01-1413 min
Queerstories180 Dr Senthorun Raj - Queer Career GoalsDr Senthorun Raj discusses how his queer career as a glitter radiatingacademic lawyer began with childhood fantasies of being Xena and SailorMoon.Dr Senthorun Raj is a Lecturer in Law at Keele University and is passionate about glitter, pop culture, politics, and social justice. Sen's academic and activist work takes an intersectional approach to addressing the ways law deals with the lives of queer minorities. He is the chair of Black Gold Arts and serves on the board of Amnesty International UK. Prior to taking up a lectureship in the UK, Sen was...
2020-01-0911 min
Queerstories179 Erin Riley - DaughtersErin finds a great, great love. Soon after she decides to get married, she has dinner in Lakemba with her parents.By day, Erin Riley's a social worker - having spent most of the last decade working in community aged care. By night, Erin's a skivvy-wearing fanatic, a Scandinavian crime drama aficionado, Americana folk music-listener and a real kitchen top. A dedicated reader, wrestling fan, swimmer of laps and lover of food, in a former life Erin was an aspiring golfer, and once was an editor of UNSW's student newspaper, Tharunka. She's regained a love of writing...
2020-01-0710 min
Queerstories178 Marcus Whale - Love In The Time of MSN MessengerMusician Marcus Whale shares a prepubescent story of online romance, distance and self-discovery.Marcus Whale is a musician and performer working on Gadigal land. As a performer, he is a member of duo Collarbones and trio BV, as well as work under his own name, releasing an album "Inland Sea" in June 2016. Primarily forming an electronic world around his singing, the songs across these projects play out dramas of desire and projection while disfiguring forms of pop, club and contemporary classical music.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events...
2019-12-2610 min
Queerstories177 Paul van Reyk - How to Make a Sri Lankan Christmas CakeA multicultural recipe for multicultural times, this piece was inspired by Paul's interviews for My Mother's Kitchen, a Queerstories collaboration with Google's Creative Labs: mymotherskitchen.com.auPaul van Reyk was born in Sri Lanka in 1952, migrating to Australia with his family in 1962. He came out publicly in 1978, and has spent the subsequent four decades as an activist. He has been a regular media commentator over that time, writing on gay and HIV/AIDS history, racism in the gay community and LGBTQI families. A social worker by profession, Paul also manages his own consultancy company, and blogs...
2019-12-1914 min
Queerstories176 Claire G. Coleman - A Pair of Old DucksThe epic tale of Gertrude and Mildred.This story was performed at Queerstories in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as at Newcastle Writer's Festival and Ubud Readers and Writers Festival in Bali.Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays and poetry. During an extended circuit of the continent she wrote a novel, influenced by certain experiences gained on the road. She has since won a Black&Write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship for that novel ,"...
2019-12-1209 min
Queerstories175 Brendan Howarth - The Teacher Becomes The StudentWollongong teacher Brendan shares the story of how a 10-year-old inspired him to live authentically.This story was performed at Queerstories: Wollongong, supported by Wollongong City Libraries.Brendan Howarth is a chef by morning, student teacher by day and father & husband by night. He is a soon to be teacher who wants to inspire the future generations to be their best selves and create a generation that spreads love and kindness.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates...
2019-12-0509 min
Queerstories174 Dr Kathleen Williams - Moments in Our Relationship Worthy of Being a Drone Shot in a Netflix SeriesThe title says it all... Kathleen performed this story at Queerstories: Hobart in 2019.Dr Kathleen Williams is a media studies academic. She publishes work on the social uses of media technologies, particularly in relation to screen cultures, materiality and memory. However she is most qualified at forensically dissecting pop culture.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and follow Queerstories on Facebook.The new Queerstories book is published by Hachette Australia, and can be p...
2019-11-2811 min
Queerstories173 Kait Fenwick - UnityKait Fenwick dreams of heading out to Newcastle's answer to The Planet, but the night doesn't go quite as planned.Kait Fenwick is the author of Burning Between (Puncher & Wattmann). Their work has appeared in Seen & Heard zine, Butch is Not a Dirty Word, Cordite Poetry Review, Archer magazine and on the walls at China Heights Gallery, Surry Hills. In 2017, Kait completed their honours in English and Writing at the University of Newcastle. Their thesis, Digital Queeries, explores the relationship between millennials, sub/urban spaces and the internet.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed...
2019-11-2108 min
Queerstories172 Chloe Black - Ohhh, Bruce Willis was trans all along!Chloe Black realises that coming out to yourself is a lot like watching The Sixth Sense.Chloe Black began her stand-up career in Adelaide over 18 years ago. She has performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe and the Edinburgh Fringe. She is a broadcaster on Edge Radio in Hobart as co-host of Film Central and in her own show "It's Always Midnight Somewhere", which she describes as a phantasmagorical mix tape of film-scores and punk rock.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and...
2019-11-1409 min
Queerstories171 Gabrielle Journey Jones - Adoption BelongingThrough heartlines and bloodlines, Gabrielle tells a story of belonging, about her history and her family.This story was performed at the first Wollongong Queerstories, supported by Wollongong City Libraries.Gabrielle Journey Jones is a poet, percussionist and event producer living on Yuin Country, Far South Coast NSW. Gabe co-founded Creative Womyn Down Under in 2006 as a way to support other lesbian artists and musicians. In 2018, Gabe established Poetic Percussion to expand her work teaching and performing poetry and drumming in schools and with community organisations. She has worked with the Unspoken Words Collective, Word...
2019-11-0710 min
Queerstories170 Robert Dessaix - Collins-RobertRobert delivers a heartwarming love letter to a French-English dictionary (purportedly).Robert Dessaix is known as a leading broadcaster, for many years the producer and presenter of the ABC's Books and Writing program. He left his twenty year academic career as a lecturer in Russian language and literature at the University of New South Wales, and the Australian National University, to work in theatre and for the ABC. He is a novelist, essayist, critic and translator.Adopted as a baby, in 1994 he published A Mother's Disgrace, an autobiographical account of his experience of adoption, and...
2019-10-3111 min
Queerstories169 - Anthony Venn Brown - Jason Gave You A GiftAnthony reflects on an incredibly difficult time in his life, and farewells someone lost to him.In a former life, Anthony Venn-Brown was a high-profile Pentecostal preacher, speaking regularly in Australia's megachurches, as described in his autobiography, A Life of Unlearning. As the first Australian conversion therapy survivor to tell his story this opened a floodgate of responses from readers with similar experiences. Since 2000, Anthony has worked extensively with people experiencing faith/sexuality conflict and brought greater acceptance and equality in Christian circles. He is the founder and CEO of Ambassadors & Bridge Builders International.Queerstories...
2019-10-2412 min
Queerstories168 Sophie Harper - TeethSophie reflects on the ritual of the toothfairy, and on the importance of one's teeth. Sophie features on My Mother's Kitchen, a Queerstories collaboration with Google's Creative Labs: mymotherskitchen.com.auSophie Harper has worked in film as a director, editor and producer, and in government film institutions, the Australian Film Commission and Screen Australia. In 2009 she moved to Denmark to teach at the European Film College where she was Vice Principal and Documentary Teacher. She is the creator of Not By Accident, a documentary podcast series about becoming a single mother by choice. Sophie is one...
2019-10-1713 min
Queerstories167 Corrie Chen - Isle of WonderCorrie reflects on the things that can get lost in translation, and on the burdens and responsibilities placed on an immigrant child.Corrie Chen is an award-winning filmmaker and a highly sought-after director of Australian television. Working across comedy and drama, her recent work includes Homecoming Queens, Five Bedrooms, Mustangs FC and Seachange. She is the 2018 Film Victoria's Greg Tepper award recipient for her contributions to the industry.Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and...
2019-10-1011 min
Queerstories166 Monica Zanetti - Zooey: The rebound catA story of 3 heartbreaks and the cat who witnessed them all.Monica Zanetti is an AWGIE nominated screenwriter whose past credits include the film “Skin Deep” and the TV shows “Sisters”, “Tonightly with Tom Ballard” and the upcoming channel 10 series “My life is Murder” staring Lucy Lawless. Most recently she just finished writing and directing the High School, LGBT Rom-Com “Ellie & Abbie (&Ellie Dead Aunt).Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and follow Queerstories on Facebook.Th...
2019-10-0313 min
Queerstories166 Jean Tong - Obliterator1519Jean comes out - as a fanfic writer. A nostalgic throwback to simpler times, when representation was out of reach and a young writer found fame - and critique - online.Jean Tong is a Melbourne-based writer. Her previous work includes Hungry Ghosts (Melbourne Theatre Company), Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit (The Coopers Malthouse, MICF), and Anti Hero (Monash Centre for Theatre and Performance). She has also presented at the Emerging Writers' Festival, and published in Peril Magazine and Meanjin. In 2018, she was selected for Screen Australia's ‘Developing the Developer' workshop, and for Film Victoria's TV an...
2019-09-2612 min
Queerstories165 Charity Werk - Drama QueenStand-up comedian and lifelong thespian Charity Werk reflects on how a very straight high school can lead a group of young boys to explore their sexuality and gender expression - all through the magic of musical theatre.Charity Werk is a part-time comedian and a full time natural beauty. Making her debut as a RAW Comedy State Finalist in 2018, Charity has quickly established herself as a star on the rise. Her debut solo show "Community Service" was given an extended season and a nomination for 'Best Comedy' at the Melbourne Fringe. She was recently hand-picked by the...
2019-09-1912 min
Queerstories164 Annaliese Constable - Operation Queer SpaceAnnaliese chronicles the campaign for a Queer Space at the University of Wollongong in 2004, complete with a 48 hour occupation and arrests by riot police.Annaliese Constable is a writer, performer and queer rights activist working across standup, queer performance and theatre. Annaliese is funny for a girl, pretty for a lesbian and when she can afford it very well medicated. You can follow her on Twitter @fistyscent.Annaliese first performed this story at Wollongong Queerstories, supported by Wollongong City Libraries, then again at Giant Dwarf in Sydney the next month.Annaliese will be...
2019-09-1214 min
Queerstories163 Paul Kidd - How I got laid at my boyfriend’s funeralIn the midst of the AIDS crisis, a love affair starts with two young men meeting on an overnight train and ends, a decade later, in a moment of resolute determination amid overwhelming grief and loss.Paul Kidd is a lawyer, activist, writer and troublemaker. He has been living with HIV for more than 30 years and has been a long-time advocate for people with HIV. His work focuses on LGBTIQ rights, law reform and legal and social issues affecting the LGBTIQ and PLHIV communities. He remains passionately committed to queer liberation and vehemently opposed to the neoliberal...
2019-09-0513 min
Queerstories162 Vincent Silk - Drive Away FearVincent is so busy preparing to volunteer at Camp Out that he almost forgets it's his birthday.Vincent Silk is a writer living in Narrm / Melbourne. His fiction and non fiction has been published in journals Archer, Going Down Swinging, and Seizure. He has been a writer in residence at Next Wave Festival and Firstdraft Gallery, and has made text work for exhibitions at ACCA, Alaska Projects, AutoItalia in London, MIX NYC Festival and Firstdraft. In 2018 he published his first novel, Sisters of No Mercy, an adventure in hysterical realism about friendship and collective action in the...
2019-08-2911 min
Queerstories161 Kip Chapman - The Taste of HomeWhen meat and three veg meets prawn flan, Kip shares a tale of both creative and romantic collaboration.Kip Chapman was a recipient of the New Zealand Arts Foundation New Generation Award for services to theatre in 2013. He was a core cast member of the Emmy Winning TV drama Top of the Lake, and has also appeared in numerous other film & TV productions. In 2017 he was the Creative Director of the World of Wearable Arts, New Zealand's biggest annual theatrical event. He is the founder of The Auckland Theatre Awards.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling...
2019-08-2213 min
Queerstories133 Krishna Istha - BeastKrishna is trying their hand at stand up comedy. At Queerstories, they performed an excerpt from their first hour long comedy show, Beast.Krishna Istha is a performer, live artist and theatre maker. They have performed across the UK, Australia, USA and Germany. Currently, they are working on their new show 'Beast', an Arts House (Melbourne) commission, supported by public funding from Arts Council England, for Midsumma Festival 2019.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 F...
2019-04-0909 min
Queerstories93 Kaya Wilson - Power PoseKaya Wilson reflects on his photoshoot in an abandoned gay sauna with Patrick Boland.This story was shared at Queerstories x Archer Magazine launch in Sydney. You can see the images Kaya refers to in his story by ordering a copy of Archer Magazine's 10th issue.Kaya Wilson is a writer and scientist based in Sydney. He writes lyrical non-fiction essays with a focus on queer identity and his work has been published widely.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates...
2018-11-1408 min
Queerstories92 Razia Zakarya - Rebel With a CauseRoused rebel Razia Zakaria experiences seemingly different cultures only to find they have more in common than first expected.This story was shared at Queerstories x Archer Magazine, launching the magazine's 10th issue in Sydney.Razia Zakarya is a PhD candidate in Science at UTS. Her secret superpowers are mondegreens and malapropisms.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 p...
2018-11-1210 min
Queerstories69 Kelly Azizi: A Shit QueerKelly Azizi talks about the shittier side of what makes up 'community'.Kelly is a writer whose field of interest includes the politics of ethno-cultural identity, the diaspora, and non-white feminism. In 2016, she completed her Master of Cultural Studies degree at the University of Sydney.Kelly plays an active role in Sydney's art community, and is an advocate for its cultural diversity and inclusiveness. She was the Gallery Administrator at 55 Sydenham Rd - an independent art space in Marrickville - from February 2017 up until its closure in May 2018.Kelly Azizi is featured in...
2018-07-0208 min
Queerstories66 Peter Taggart: A Country PracticePeter Taggart attempts to satisfy his curiosities in a rural heterosexual wasteland.Peter is a writer and podcaster from Brisbane. He was born on the glittering Gold Coast and raised in St George – a small farming township in southern Queensland. Peter has written for Junkee, The Guardian, Meanjin and SBS, has hosted shows on 2SER/Star Observer Digital and 4ZzZ and has contributed to various programs on triple j and ABC Radio Brisbane. His podcasts include the popular Bring A Plate and less popular Clip Show.Peter is featured in the Queerstories book whi...
2018-06-1110 min
Queerstories64 Ben McLeay: Kerouacking OffIn which Ben McLeay contemplates the worst thing that could possibly happen to him: rudeness.Ben is a Brisbane-based writer at Pedestrian.tv and co-host of political comedy podcast Boonta Vista Socialist Club.Ben is featured in the Queerstories book which can be ordered on Booktopia.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 o...
2018-05-2808 min
Queerstories60 Quinn Eades: Making home (to all the lesbians I’ve loved before)Quinn Eades grew up in the Sydney lesbian community during the 70s and 80s, was assigned female at birth. He lived as a dyke for 25 years before becoming a transmasc person at the age of 41. This story is a tracery of his lesbian heritage, and a letter to all the lesbians he's loved before.Quinn Eades is a researcher, writer, and award-winning poet whose work lies at the nexus of feminist, queer and trans theories of the body, autobiography, poetry, and philosophy.Eades has been published nationally and internationally, and is the author of all...
2018-04-3013 min
Queerstories56 Peter Polites: One Metre SquaredAuthor Peter Polites remembers his visits to the Greek and Gay Group - GAGG.Peter Polites is a writer of Greek descent from Western Sydney. As part of the SWEATSHOP writers collective, Peter has written and performed his work all over Australia. Alongside SMH Best Young Novelists Luke Carman and Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Polites wrote and performed THREE JERKS - a spoken word piece about the Cronulla riots - to sellout crowds in Sydney and Melbourne.His novels Down the Hume and The Pillars are published by Hachette, and he is featured in the Queerstories...
2018-04-0209 min
Queerstories54 Courtney Thompson: Portrait of a High-To-Moderate Functioning AlcoholicCourtnery Thompson tells us a fictional tale of good wine and cheap life choices.Courtney won the ‘Queerstories' prize as part of the Outstanding Short Story Competition. If you haven't heard of Outstanding before, it's an LGBTQI writing competition run by Robert Tait, Gail Hewison of Feminist Bookshop fame, and Teresa Savage, who among many accomplishments, is one of my mothers. So, I selected Courtney's piece to be performed from loads of entries to the competition and here she is.Courtney is a creative writing student and chronic procrastinator at the University of New South Wa...
2018-03-2009 min
Queerstories53 Candy Bowers: Dear AudreCandy Bowers writes a love letter to her black lesbian hero, Audre Lorde.Candy is an award-winning writer, actor, social activist, comedian and producer. The co-artistic director of Black Honey Company, Candy has pioneered a fierce sub-genre of hip hop theatre that delves into the heart of radical feminist dreaming. Born of multi-racial South African parents and raised in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, Candy studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). Since then she has gone on perform across the country and the world, and has appeared on the small screen in Newton's Law...
2018-03-1212 min
Queerstories52 David Cunningham: No orifice is a window to the soulDavid Cunningham shines a light on the complicated relationship of having a fuckbuddy and the illusion of intimacy it creates.David is a writer/researcher on ABC TV's The Checkout, who occasionally plays large men in top hats, togas and so on when no one else is available. He was the runner up in the Raw National Stand-up Comedy Competition in 2008, and occasionally can be found doing stand-up around Sydney until it gets too much for his knees.For leisure, he is in his ninth year of not-quite-failing a history PhD about tensions in cultural...
2018-03-0618 min
Queerstories49 Candy Royalle: Here, Queer and ArabicPoet Candy Royalle on the road to belonging.Candy was an award winning writer, performance artist, poet, storyteller, activist, educator and vulnerability advocate. Candy's album “Birthing the Sky Birthing theSea,” a collaboration with the band The Freed Radicals, explored a fusion of rock and roll, funk, experimental soundscapes, hip hop, poetry with song. She published two solocollections, “Love Spectacular” and “Heartbeats,” and toured extensively in Australia, the UK, Canada and the USA, with performances at The Sydney Writers Festival, The Stella Awards, The Austin International Poetry Festival, The Latitudes Festival in Toronto and Woodford Fol...
2018-02-1311 min
Queerstories38 Ginger Turner: The A is Not for AllyGinger Turner reflects on their realisation that they identify as asexual. Ginger is a writer, a podcaster and a pop-culture commentator, pastimes that feel as natural to them as breathing. And, like breathing, they'll keep doing it even when no one's listening. You can buck the trend, and listen to their podcast, Common Sense with Burt Franklap. Ginger is featured in the Queerstories book which can be ordered on Booktopia.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For Queerstories event dates, visit www.maevemarsden.com, and...
2017-12-1908 min
Queerstories36 Vicki Melson: Gotta Make Way for the Homo SuperiorVicki Melson tells us a short tale of heroes, cock and cancer. Vicki is a Sydney based aromatherapist with a background in graphic design. She has recently completed an Arts degree majoring in English and Film which she hopes will encourage her to write more. She escaped from the UK in 1987 and has since been trapped in Australia due to her love of its flora and fauna. Vicki Melson is featured in the Queerstories book which can be ordered on Booktopia.Queerstories is an LGBTQI+ storytelling night programmed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Au...
2017-12-0510 min
Queerstories35 Nic Holas: That GuyNic Holas opens up for the first time about something very personal that happened to him, his sisters, and his Dad. Nic Holas is an activist, writer, and co-founder of The Institute of Many (TIM), Australia's largest grassroots movement for People Living with HIV. Nic's writing on HIV/AIDS, LGBTIQA issues, human rights, and pop culture has appeared in Archer, The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, SBS, Hello Mr., The Lifted Brow, and Junkee, as well as in international and local queer media.Nic has been a frequent guest on current affairs TV and radio, including appearances on Q...
2017-11-2812 min