Melissa Lucashenko will be delivering the Opening Night address, speaking to the theme “What’s Changed? What’s Stayed the Same?”.

Melissa is a multi-award winning novelist, essayist and short fiction writer from Brisbane. A Bundjalung woman, her work for three decades has centered the experiences of poor, Blak and underclass women. Her hoML is a multi-award winning novelist, essayist and short fiction writer from Brisbane. A Bundjalung woman, her work for three decades has centered the experiences of poor, Blak and underclass women. In her twenties ML was part of a feminist collective which established Sisters Inside, a human rights organisation supporting criminalised women of all backgrounds in se qld. Her 2019 novel Too Much Lip won the Miles Franklin Award and the Qld Literary Prize for Fiction. Her previous novels have won or been shortlisted for many other Australian and international awards. She is currently working on a novel of historical Maganchin-Brisbane, set in 1854. Her hobbies include bushwalking, reading, and swearing at the television.

Join us to celebrate the offical opening of the 2022 Blak & Bright Literary Festival by securing your free ticket here!

Witness, Solace, the commissioned performance by Philly, Bryan Andy, James Henry and Steven Rhall, exploring men’s mental health. Followed by Melissa Lucashenko, address with spotlight on writers Jazz Money, Alexis Wright, Crystal McKinnon, with Glenn Shea.

This event is co-presented with RMIT – Culture.