Keynote: Sara M Saleh

Sara M Saleh is a writer, poet and human rights lawyer of Palestinian, Egyptian, and Lebanese heritage, based on Bidjigal Land. Her work has been published widely across dozens of literary platforms and shared on stages from Brooklyn to Bangalore. Sara made history in Australia as the first poet to win both the prestigious Peter Porter and the Judith Wright Poetry Prizes (2020–21). Her debut novel, Songs for the Dead and the Living (Affirm, 2023), and her poetry collection, The Flirtation of Girls (UQP, 2023), have received multiple national and international prizes and shortlistings between them.

Rooted in the belief that literacy is a tool for liberation, Sara has rallied communities of artists across continents to create sustainable, generative, and inclusive spaces for craft, connection, and critical consciousness. From co-founding the Muslim Poetry Project to leading workshops in countless classrooms, community spaces, and festivals around the world, Sara has uplifted hundreds of storytellers over the last decade.

Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker

Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker is a Nyungar technologist, writer, and digital rights activist living on Whadjuk Noongar boodjar. Their poetry has appeared in Cordite, Red Room Poetry, Running Dog, Best Australian Poems, and their short stories have been published in various anthologies, including This All Come Back Now and New Australian Fiction 2024.

Luisa Mitchell (Shaw)

Luisa Mitchell (Shaw) is a Broome-born writer of Nyungar and European descent living in Boorloo/Perth. Her work has been published in Westerly, Kimberley Stories, Portside Review, and more. She won the Highly Commended Poem and Best Emerging Poet Awards from Liquid Amber Press and was shortlisted for the Richelle Prize for Emerging Writers in 2023.

Baran Rostamian

Baran Rostamian is a writer and law student living on unceded Whadjuk Noongar Boodja. She is fascinated, dumbfounded and disgusted by the way and the why of things. You can read her debut poetry collection Woven Frays and follow @baran.com.au on Instagram.

Asha Rajan

Asha Rajan is a South Indian-Australian writer and poet whose work reflects issues of culture, connection, inclusion, feminism and parenthood. Asha is perpetually curious and committed to work that demonstrates deep love and respect for First Nations People, her own cultural history, and diversity and inclusion. Visit her website at asharajanwriter.com.

Dr Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes

Dr Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes is a writer from Lalibela, Ethiopia. He is a senior lecturer at the Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University. His academic and creative work revolves around African traditions, Ethiopian philosophy, epistemic justice, issues of looted manuscript repatriation, and the politics of language and belonging. Yirga won the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award for his manuscript የተስፋ ፈተና / Trials of Hope.

Rafeif Ismail

Rafeif Ismail is an award-winning emerging multilingual storyteller, editor and researcher. His work has been published in anthologies and literary magazines across Australia and internationally, with a debut novel forthcoming. Deeply committed to creating diverse works, spaces and ethical storytelling, Rafeif is the current managing director of Djed Press and co-founder of Long Trek Press.

Kaya Ortiz

Kaya Ortiz is a queer Filipino poet of in/articulate identities and record-keeper of ancient histories. Kaya’s writing has appeared in Westerly, Portside Review, Australian Poetry Journal and Best of Australian Poems 2021, among others. Their unpublished poetry collection Past & Parallel Lives won the 2024 Dorothy Hewett Award and is available in March 2025 from UWAP.

Daniel Juckes

Daniel Juckes is a writer and lecturer in Creative Writing at UWA and an Editor at Westerly Magazine. He holds a PhD from Curtin University. His creative and critical work has been published in Axon, KalliopeX, Life Writing, M/C Journal, Meanjin, TEXT and Westerly. He is the author of The Moment of the Essay out now from UWA Publishing.

Jo-Ann Lim

Jo-Ann Lim is an Australian Chinese performance artist, storyteller, dancer, musician and producer. She creates, performs and produces stories of empowerment that highlight struggles and controversial issues such as slut shaming and fighting the patriarchy. Having worked as a human rights advocate for more than 20 years, she sees the arts as another form of activism.

Judith Huang

Judith Huang is a Singaporean Australian author, poet, science fiction translator, serial-arts-collective-founder and multimedia artist. Her first novel, Sofia and the Utopia Machine, was shortlisted for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2017 and Singapore Book Awards 2019. She is the co-founder of Chilli Jam Open Mic in Perth.

Mohammed Massoud Morsi

Mohammed Massoud Morsi grew up between Egypt, Denmark and the world. He spent his career working as a journalist and photographer in Asia, Africa, Beirut, the West Bank and Gaza. In 2020 his debut novel, The Palace of Angels, was a finalist for the Voss Literary Prize and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Morsi is currently based in Perth, Australia.

Manveen Kaur Kohli

Manveen Kaur Kohli is a British-Indian poet and a two-time finalist in WA’s Australian Poetry Slam. Her poetry collection, We Need to Talk was published through Centre for Stories and Red River Press in 2023. Currently, Manveen works as a psychologist at a high school. Her passion for poetry and love for psychology stem from a profound desire to make a difference and empower others.

Seth Malacari (he/they)

Seth Malacari is a nonbinary trans masculine author and editor living on unceded Whadjuk Noongar land. Their first book, An Unexpected Party (2023) was published by Fremantle Press and shortlisted for the Aurealis Award for best anthology. They are currently undertaking a creative PhD at UWA, researching transmasculine history across twentieth century Australia.

Linda Martin

Linda Martin is a publisher and editor, specialising in fiction and creative non-fiction. She is a co-publisher at Night Parrot Press and a sessional lecturer at ECU. Her book titled A Tale of Two Publishing Houses will be published by Fremantle Press in 2026. Linda has worked with Yamatji author Mabel Gibson on her 2025 micro memoir collection CryBaby.

Dr Cindy Solonec

Dr Cindy Solonec is a Nyikina (Nigena) writer and the author of Debesa: The Story of Frank and Katie Rodriguez published by Magabala Books and shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Awards in 2022. She has lived off-country in Boorloo for many years. Now retired, Cindy has taught Aboriginal Studies in higher education and has published both creative and academic work in Westerly, Southerly, Portside Review and Night Parrot Press as well as ANU and UWA.

Dr Samiha Olwan

Dr Samiha Olwan taught English at the Islamic University of Gaza and worked with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, before coming to Australia in 2014. She currently lectures in English and Creative Writing at Murdoch University. Her research explores the intersections of literature, identity, and power, drawing on postcolonial and feminist theories, with a particular interest in the ways literary texts, particularly women’s narratives, articulate gendered and colonial forms of violence, memory, and resilience.

Lakshmi Kanchi (SoulReserve)

Lakshmi Kanchi is the author of Lakesong, a collection of poetry published by The Centre for Stories. Her writing anatomises the complex linkages between language, culture, and perception. Lakshmi won the 2023 Ros Spencer Poetry Prize and 2021 Pocketry Prize for Unpublished Poets. She was also the Inaugural Poet-in-Residence at The Wetlands Centre (2022–23) and Swan Writer-in-Residence at the Midland Courthouse (2024).

Rashida Murphy

Rashida Murphy is the founder of The Writers’ Collective. She is the author of The Historian’s Daughter (UWAP) and The Bonesetter’s Fee (SW). Her new work is forthcoming in Westerly and Rituals, the Anthology. She currently mentors young writers at the Centre for Stories and facilitates online courses for Writers Victoria.

Mabel Gibson

Mabel Gibson is a twenty-five-year-old Yamatji woman from Kinjarling/Albany. Her new micro memoir collection, CryBaby, was published by Night Parrot Press in 2025. Other creative work has been published in anthologies maar bidi: Next Generation Black Writing (Magabala Books), Portside Review (Centre for Stories) and Night Parrot Press anthologies.

Marziya Mohammedali

Marziya Mohammedali is an academic, photographer, artist and writer, focusing on narratives of dissent, identity, migration and transition. Their research looks at the intersections of identity, photography and protest. They are also the deputy editor of Jalada Africa, a pan-African creative collective. They live in Boorloo on Whadjuk Noongar Boodja.

Josephine Wilson

Josephine Wilson is the inaugural winner of the Dorothy Hewett Prize for her novel, Extinctions, which also won the Miles Franklin and Colin Roderick Awards and was shortlisted for The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. She has received several grants and awards including an Asialink residency in Shanghai as well as Saratoga Springs. Josephine teaches creative writing and theory at Murdoch University.

Dr Prema Arasu

Dr Prema Arasu is a writer and academic based in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia. Their debut poetry collection, Vampire Squid, is forthcoming with Fremantle Press. They are the festival director for Perth Storyfest 2025.

Ana Brawls

Ana Brawls is a writer and librarian originally from Brazil. Her work explores culture and the Brazilian diaspora, immigrant experience and multiculturalism often through alternative realities. Ana’s diverse work includes micro-memoirs, poetry, and short stories, featured in magazines and anthologies, including Westerly Magazine, Australia Poetry Anthology, and Ourselves: 100 micro memoirs (NNP).

Andrew Sutherland (he/they)

Andrew Sutherland is a Queer Poz (PLHIV) writer and performance-maker currently living on the unceded lands of the Kulin nation. His debut poetry collection, Paradise (point of transmission), was published by Fremantle Press in 2022, and his second, Act Cute, is forthcoming in July 2025.