Allara Briggs-Pattison, proud Yorta Yorta Woman has an enchanting glow when she performs, always gracing the stage with a passionate grin from ear to ear. Her range of skills playing on both upright and standard bass compliment each other. Her ears have grown large from playing in a variety of different styles including neo-soul, jazz,…

Dr Amy Thunig (B.Arts, M.Teach, PhD) is a Gomeroi/Gamilaroi/Kamilaroi academic who parents and partners on beautiful Awabakal Country. A Research Fellow within Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at the University of Technology Sydney, Amy is passionate about translating the work of Higher Education institutions into plain-language and accessible spaces. Amy’s first book ‘Tell…

Anahera Maire Gildea (Ngāti Tukorehe) is a writer and artivist. She has worked extensively as a visual and performing artist, writer, and teacher. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and she has been an award finalist for both her poetry and short stories. Anahera has won the Huia Best Novel Extract in…

Aretha Brown made headlines following her speeches at both the 2017 and 2018 Invasion Day Protests in Melbourne. The then Year 11 student, addressed an estimated 50,000 protesters in Melbourne on Invasion Day, calling for the date of the national holiday to be changed and fighting to make Indigenous Australian history education mainstream. Her delivery…

Ari is a proud Nangu and Kuku Yalanji storyteller, poet and overall enjoys exploring in many mediums of self expression. Born and raised in Larrakia Country, they now find themselves down in Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung Country, studying at the University of Melbourne in a Bachelor of Arts degree (Indigenous & Gender Studies). Ari is…

Aunty Diane Kerr is a respected Elder of the Wurundjeri Tribe, and a Mother, Grandmother and Aunty to many across several generations. Born in Melbourne in 1954, Aunty Di identifies with the Ganun Willam Balak clan of the Wurundjeri and save for one year where she resided in Canberra has always lived on Wurundjeri country….

Bhiamie Williamson is a Euahlayi man north-west New South Wales with familial ties to north-west Queensland. In 2014, Bhiamie graduated from the Australian National University (ANU) and in 2017 from the Masters of Indigenous Governance at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Bhiamie also holds graduate certificates in Indigenous Governance from the Native Nations…

Bridget Caldwell-Bright is a Jingili and Mudburra editor based in Melbourne. She is currently working as an editorial policies advisor at the ABC. She has previously worked as guest editor for Meanjin Magazines First Nations Edition, Archer Magazine and Blak Brow as well as various trade publishers including Hardie Grant Books, UQP, Scribe, Allen &…

Bryan Andy is a Yorta Yorta man from Cummeragunja (NSW). Bryan has been a writer, radio broadcaster and theatre maker for over 20 years. He has been published by Lonely Planet, Guardian, Meanjin, ABC, Witness Performance and Artlink. He performed as an actor in Andrea James’s Yanagai! Yanagai! (2003) and Ilbijerri Theatre’s The Dirty Mile…

Carly Sheppard is an award winning cross-disciplinary performance artist based in Naarm (Melbourne), working across dance and theatre making and performance, sculpture, drawing, writing, voice, and installation. Her practice navigates complex narratives of intersecting race, class, mythologies and identities we inherit and how meaning is created and processed through prisms of colonial interruption. Carly’s work…

Chloe is a genderqueer artist that moved to Naarm (Melbourne) to explore their abilities and opportunities. They are a published writer, writing for Spirited Devonport and BluSkye Marketing. They are also an award-winning photographer, with both their painting and photography showcased in multiple art exhibitions. Chloe has a passion for performing, having some experience with…

Clint Hansen is an Yiman/Iman countryman, invested in sharing knowledge regarding his ongoing learnings of country and water, and an Indigenous research fellow at RMIT University undertaking his PhD in Environmental Engineering. He completed his Honours in Sustainable Systems Engineering in 2020, focused on securing safe water supplies for communities within the Goldfields region. In…

Daniel Browning (he/him) is a Bundjalung and Kullilli journalist, radio broadcaster, documentary maker, sound artist and writer. Currently, he is Editor Indigenous Radio with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and produces and presents The Art Show for ABC RN, the ABC’s specialist arts and journalism network. He also presented Awaye! for many years, an RN…

Davey is a proud Bidjara, Wakka Wakka and Gubbi Gubbi man who has worked across film, television and theatre as a producer and performer. He’s worked at notable organisations such as Circus Oz, ILBIJERRI Theatre Company and VicScreen, but he’s most recognised as playing Casey in the ABC iView series “All My Friends Are Racist”….

Dean Stewart has worked for over 20 years within management roles in both Environmental and Cultural organisations. Working for almost 10 years as the Community Revegetation Project Co-ordinator, for Eltham and then Nillumbik Councils. Dean co-ordinated all environmental on-the-ground project works from Diamond Creek up to Kinglake and from Plenty River to Warrandyte. With groups…

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO (Yorta Yorta/Yuin) is a respected human rights advocate and recognised thought leader on the importance of cultural authority in the Art Music space. Throughout a long and distguished career Deborah has championed the voice and visibility of classically trained Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island musicians through her achievements a composer, performer…

I am Gudanji/Wakaja, and we are from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory. For almost 40 years I have worked in various roles in primary, secondary and tertiary education including class teacher (primary and secondary), special education teacher, senior teacher, regional consultant, regional manager, lecturer, senior lecturer and Head of School (tertiary). I have…

Declan Fry has written for the Guardian, Australian Book Review, Overland, Westerly and elsewhere. He was a winner of the 2021 Griffith Review Emerging Voices Competition, received the 2021 Peter Blazey Fellowship, and was nominated in 2022 for the Pascall Prize in criticism. His latest work appears in Another Australia (Affirm Press) and in the…

Elijah Money is a queer Wiradjuri brotherboy who was raised on Kulin Nations where he continues to reside. His practice includes visual art, writing, MC, workshop facilitator, drag performance and more. These are all ingrained with strong recurring themes of colonialism, assimilation, skin colour, gender, mental illness, sexuality, climate change, stolen generations, identity as well…

ENOKi (they/them) is a proud Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta Blak Fulla based on Wurundjeri Country (Melbourne). They’re a multi-media artist with a focus on digital media. ENOKi’s previous work includes the First People’s RISING art tram “My Aunty Once Told Me” (Routes 58 & 59) and Apple’s 2023 World Pride Campaign. They also…

essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Raukawa, Te Arawa, Ngaati Puukeko, Clan Gunn, Horwood) is a poet/person/uri/thing who lives on Ngaati Wairere whenua. they are the winner of the Janet Frame Poetry Prize for 2023 and the inaugural Keri Hulme Award. author of the books ransack and ECHIDNA. co-editor of the journal Kupu Toi Takataapui with Michelle…

Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie and Koori poet, researcher and co-editor of Overland Literary Journal. Her Stella-prize winning poetry collection DROPBEAR was published by UQP in 2021. She lectures in Literature and Creative Writing at Deakin University.

Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Growing up a massive Kylie Minogue and North Queensland Cowboys fan, Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study…

Graham Akhurst is a Kokomini writer who grew up in Meanjin. He is a Lecturer of Indigenous Studies and Creative Writing at UTS. Graham began his writing journey in a hospital bed in 2011. He read and started journaling between treatments for Endemic Burkett Lymphoma. As a Fulbright Scholar, Graham took his love for writing…

Gregg Dreise is a gifted artist, storyteller and musician; and he features the didgeridoo and guitar in his high energy performances. He uses music and laughter to take audiences on a story telling journey – that just might sneak in a lesson or two. Gregg is a touring Author/Musician/Entertainer who continually performs in schools, libraries,…

Hayley McQuire is a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman born and raised in Rockhampton, Central Queensland. Her work is centred on community, relationality and convening new collectives to rethink education. She is the co-founder and CEO of The National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition, Co-Chair of Learning Creates Australia and board director for a number…

Dr Helen Milroy is a descendant of the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, but was born and educated in Perth. Australia’s first Indigenous doctor, Helen studied medicine at the University of Western Australia and is currently Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UWA, Honorary Research Fellow at Telethon Kids Institute…

Isobel Morphy-Walsh, a proud Nirim Baluk woman from the Taun Wurrung (Taungurung) people. Isobel is a mutli-disciplinary artist and writer spanning both visual art and performance art. Isobel is a weaver, a curator, a producer, an activist and an educator, a programmer, a singer and soon a playwright. Isobel has spent her life working with her community and our…

Jada Narkle is a multidisciplinary, collaborative artist and Noongar yorga, from the Wiilman and Yued tribes of Western Australia. Jada’s practise prefaces the deep and intricate understanding and exploration of interconnectivity. Through this knowledge they are re-contextualising their understanding of time and space, the body’s interaction and endless navigation of these as non-linear concepts. As a Blak…

Jane Harrison is descended from the Muruwari people of NSW. Her first play Stolen had productions across Australia and toured internationally. She was co-winner of the 2012 RAKA Kate Challis Award for Stolen. Rainbow’s End (2003) has had numerous productions and won the 2012 Drovers Award for best touring production. The Visitors play (2020) premiered at Sydney Festival and won the Sydney Critics Award…

Jeanine Leane is a Wiradjuri writer, poet and academic from southwest New South Wales. Her poetry, short stories, critique, and essays have been published in Hecate: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Women’s Liberation Australian Poetry Journal, Antipodes, Overland and the Sydney Review of Books. Jeanine has published widely in the area of Aboriginal literature, writing otherness,…

John Morrissey is a Melbourne writer of Kalkadoon descent. His work has been published in Overland, Voiceworks, Meanjin and the anthology This All Come Back Now. He was the winner of the 2020 Boundless Mentorship and the runner-up for the 2018 Nakata Brophy Prize. His first collection of stories, Firelight, was published in 2023.

Julie began writing plays in remote Yolngu community in NT. She is a Darug woman of Burruberongal clan. A playwright, poet and novelist. Her latest novel Madukka the River Serpent long listed for the Miles Franklin Award.

Kamarra Bell-Wykes (Yagera/Butchulla) is a playwright, director, dramaturge, devisor, facilitator, performer, creative producer, program curator, community developer and education consultant. Kamarra served as ILBIJERRI Theatre Company’s Education Manager and Creative Director from 2014-2019 and Malthouse Resident Artist 2020-2022. Some of Kamarra’s writing/directing credits include Because the Night (MALTHOUSE), The Score, Scar Trees, Viral, North West…

Kim Scott has twice won Australia’s premier literary award, the Miles Franklin (for Benang and That Deadman Dance) among many other Australian literary prizes. His most recent novel is Taboo (Picador, 2017). Proud to be one among those who call themselves Noongar – the Aboriginal people of south-western Australia, Kim is also convenor of Wirlomin…

Kirli Saunders (OAM) is a proud Gunai Woman who rarely stays in her lane. She’s an award winning multidisciplinary artist, writer, singer-songwriter and consultant. Kirli creates, to connect, to make change. She was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her contribution to the arts (2022). Kirli has partnered with global organisations including Google, Fender, Sydney…

Laniyuk is a Larrakia, Kungarakan, Gurindji and French political creative whose art practise is grounded in cultural, language and land reclamation. She writes and performs poetry, speculative fiction, short memoir and is a visual artist. She gives lectures, moderates panels and runs workshops. Having recently completed Garuwa and Doc Society’s First Nations Impact Lab Laniyuk is interested in…

Lay Maloney is a young genderfluid storyteller of the Gumbaynggirr and Gunggandji nations and South Sea Islander heritage based on Wurundjeri Country.

A proud Goa-Gunggari-Wakka Wakka Murri woman from Queensland, Leah Purcell AM is one of Australia’s leading actors, with award-winning roles in theatre, film, and television. Leah headlines the upcoming Foxtel drama series High Country on which she also serves as Executive Producer and Cultural Advisor. The series is produced by Curio Pictures in association with…

Professor Lynette Russell AM FASSA FAHA (Sir John Monash Distinguished Professor and ARC Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Professor at Monash University’s Indigenous Studies Centre) is an award-winning historian and Indigenous studies scholar. Her research is broadly anthropological history. Russell has published widely in the areas of theory, Indigenous histories, post-colonialism and representations of race, museum studies…

Mariah is a proud descendant of Ugarapul people. She is a creative enneagram nine who loves to write and paint. She is passionate about local history and engaging young people in local stories. Mariah is a teacher by trade and lives with her family and a golden retriever. In her free time, she enjoys running…

Marie Elena Ellis is an Arrernte Warlpiri woman from Amoonguna Community, 11km south-east of Mparntwe Alice Springs. She is a cultural adviser, educator, multi-linguist and interpreter. She was selected to be on the First Nations Advisory Board for Pearson Publishing, one of the largest publishers of education resources in Australia. Marie is a scriptwriter and a writer of short stories…

Experience the soulful melodies of Maylene Yinarr, a singer-songwriter who delves deep into the themes of vulnerability and connection. As a descendant of the First Peoples of Australia and Melonesia, Maylene Yinarr’s music is a perfect blend of emotive lyrics and captivating melodies. Her soulful voice has the power to transport you to a world…

Melanie Saward is a proud Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman.. She is a writer, editor, and university lecturer based in Tulmur (Ipswich), Queensland. Her debut novel Burn was published by Affirm Press in September 2023 and she’s also had work published in Flock, Overland, Kill Your Darlings, and New Australian Fiction. In 2024, her first…

Melissa Lucashenko is a multi-award winning Goorie author from Brisbane. Her latest novel is Edenglassie, a narrative of colonial Moreton Bay in the 1850s. Melissa is a Miles Franklin winner for Too Much Lip, a Walkley Award winner for non-fiction, and a founding member of Sisters Inside.

Melodie is a Wongutha Nadju woman from Western Australia. Melodie was born in Kalgoorlie and grew up in Esperance before making her acting debut at the age of 16 in No Sugar at Belvoir St. She went on to graduate from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) in 1996. Melodie has performed in…

moirra. is a Yorta Yorta, Boonwurrung, and Jewish transsexual self-taught writer, poet and artist based in Naarm. Unapologetic Blak queerness and politicism is central to all their work. Through their passion for decolonial storytelling and challenging settler-colonial narratives, xer writing examines the relationship between queer and trans peoples, our families and communities, and the wider…

Monica Jasmine Karo, also known as MpathSoul is a Gunai and Gunditjmara multi-disciplinary artist. Monica has spent the last 10 years performing her craft as a singer-songwriter, actor, and spoken-word poet in Naarm and across Australia. This year in 2023 Monica has performed her original music on many stages such as the Share The Spirit…

Nadine Anne Hura is a poet, essayist and zine-maker from Aotearoa, New Zealand. She descends from two rivers; the Mersey in England on her mother’s side, and Waiomio (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi) on her father’s. Nadine’s work has appeared in a number of publications and anthologies, including Huia Short Stories, Ora Nui, E-Tangata, Vā, The Best…

Naynook (Nirae Baluk, of the Hamilton/Walsh line) is a professionally awkward, Deaf/Disabled storyteller.

Nayuka Gorrie is a Gunnai/Kurnai, Gunditjmara, Wriadjuri and Yorta Yorta writer. They are writing a book about colonialism, death and living in Australia.

Neika Lehman is a writer & RMIT Vice Chancellor’s Indigenous Pre-Doctoral Research Fellow in Creative Writing, School of Media & Communication. Their poetry, essays and criticism appear in NANGAMAY dream MANA gather DJURALI grow: First Nations Australia LGBTQIA+ Poetry, Best Australian Poems 2023, un Mag, Art + Australia, The Saturday Paper, Cordite, Overland, Australian Poetry Journal among others….

After graduating from WAAPA, Nelson Baker immediately landed a lead role in the ABC’s television comedy-drama series, The Warriors.

Philip Morrissey retired in 2017 after a career of thirty-seven years as an administrator and an academic. He is the co-editor of the essay collections Kim Scott: Readers, language, interpretation (2019) and Reading the Country: 30 years on (2018), and is the senior editor of Lionel Fogarty: Selected poems 1980-2017.

Rachel Bin Salleh is descended from the Nimunburr and Yawuru peoples of the Kimberley region of WA. Rachel is passionate about Indigenous people telling their stories and started her career in publishing at Magabala Books in the 1990s. In 2014 Rachel became Magabala’s Publisher and in 2018 she wrote her first book Alfred’s War, a poignant…

Raelee Lancaster is an award-winning writer and library professional. Her writing crosses poetry, nonfiction, criticism, and playwriting. Raelee hopes to combine her writing with her career in the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) sector to promote empathy, listening, and laughter. Raised on Awabakal land, she is descended from the Wiradjuri and Biripi people.

Samantha is a Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal woman, from Badu and Moa Islands in the Torres Strait and the Yadhaigana and Wuthathi peoples of Cape York Peninsula, Queensland. She is the proud author of Life Blong Ali Drummond: A Life in the Torres Strait, (Aboriginal Studies Press, July 2007) and editor of Pamle: Torres…

Dr Sandra Phillips has a wealth of experience in higher education and in publishing. Sandra is Wakka Wakka and Gooreng Gooreng and a mother and grandmother.

Sermsah’s name in the Indigenous  community is synonymous with theatre, television, film, radio, festival circuits, opera, dance and choreography. He was top 7 Males on “So You Think You Can Dance Australia “ in 2008 and made history as the first ever Indigenous dancer introducing Traditional/Contemporary dance on commercial television. Sermsah credits include touring & performing with Mitch Tambo on the…

Shareena Clanton is a film, theatre and television actress with a strong advocacy for human rights and indigenous affairs. Clanton is best known for her roles on Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth (2011), Nowhere Boys (2013), Rosehaven (2016), The Cry (2018), and as the character of Doreen Anderson on the award winning Australian drama Wentworth (2013) . Clanton played her…

Multi-faceted vocalist and composer Shauntai Sherree Abdul-Rahman effortlessly inhabits the worlds of opera, inspirational soul and gospel, classical composition, and theatre making. Shauntai has appeared as a soloist for Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Victorian Opera, Sydney Opera House, Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Short Black Opera, and Arts Centre Melbourne. She was the featured composer at the…

Shontane is a Noongar and Yamatji woman who was born and raised in Perth. The performing arts was something Shontane was always interested in but never knew this passion could become a career. In 2019 Shontane completed the Aboriginal Performance course at WAAPA. She then auditioned for the Bachelor of Arts (Acting) and was accepted…

Skye is an emerging Dulgubarra-Yidinji creative writer living in Naarm. But this doesn’t mean that she’s new to writing – in fact, she’s been a copywriter for over eleven years. She has written for organisations like Bank of us, Employment Hero, and TasWriters. In February 2023 she founded her own copywriting and marketing agency, BluSkye…

Stone Motherless Cold (she/they/re) is an Arrernte gem, currently based in Naarm. A crystalline being posing as human, With drag as their main medium, the queer artform centres their other art practices, combining them to create multi-disciplinary projects. These projects are used to explore Blak futurism, gender and sexuality, their experiences with colonialism and living…

Susie Anderson is a proud Wergaia & Wemba Wemba woman from Western Victoria. A writer of poetry and nonfiction, her work reflects on the hidden layers of visual arts practice, Country, memory and place. In 2010 Susie became part of the Editorial Committee of Voiceworks Magazine, where she developed and honed her poetry practice. Over…

Tamala Shelton is a proud Bundjalung and Lama Lama actor, audiobook narrator, writer and spoken word artist based in Naarm (Melbourne). She has been working professionally in the creative arts industries for over 10 years and has recently begun her journey as a spoken word performer.

Tisha is an Anmatjere woman from Petyale outside Ti Tree remote community, around 230 kms north of Mparntwe Alice Springs. She has worked tirelessly for her local community for over a decade across many roles, including with Akeyulerre Healing Centre – a local Arrernte cultural centre. Her passion is organising cultural healing and poetry workshops…

Tony Birch is the author of four novels, five short fiction collections, and two poetry books. His most recent book is the novel, Women and Children (UQP).

Tristen (Ngalakgan) is an art critic, writer, and PhD student. He teaches art history and theory at the Victorian College of the Arts. Tristen recently co-edited ‘Variations A More Diverse Picture of Contemporary Art.’ He’s writing on art is published in ‘The New York Times Style magazine’, ‘ArtReview’, ‘Artlink’, ‘Overland Journal’, ‘Un Magazine’, ‘The Saturday Paper’, ‘Art…

Uncle David Wandin is a Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder and Cultural Practices Manager (Fire and Water) at the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation. He is a recognised leader in the promotion and execution of cultural (cool) burns in Victoria. Prior to this role, Uncle Dave was instrumental in the establishment of the Corporation’s Narrap Team,…

Herb Patten (Ganai-Kurnai, Yorta Yorta and Wiradjuri) is a painter and gum leaf player. He is widely known throughout Australia as a professional gum leaf player and has released two CDs – How to Play the Gumleaf and Born an Aussie Son. Patten has a Diploma in Visual Art and his painting, Five Shields, which consists of five separate objects,…

Uncle Larry Walsh is an Aboriginal cultural leader and storyteller. Inspired by his local Aboriginal community, plus his own Kulin ancestral blood connections to country, Uncle is one of the only senior Elders in Melbourne who focuses specifically on storytelling. A pure storyteller, his focus on the oral tradition, is an important expression and make…

Uncle Rodney Carter is a descendant of Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta people and reside in Bendigo (his grandfather’s traditional Country). He has extensive experience in Cultural Heritage management and a particular interest in linking people to landscape through the integration of biodiversity and Cultural Heritage projects. Rodney currently works for DJAARA as Group…

Waubgeshig Rice is an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation. He has written four fiction titles, and his short stories and essays have been published in numerous anthologies. His breakthrough novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, was published in 2018 and became a national bestseller. The sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, was published…

Yasmin Smith is an editor, writer and poet of South Sea Islander, Kabi Kabi, Northern Cheyenne and English heritage. Beginning her publishing career at the national black&write! Indigenous Writing and Editing Project, she has worked across literary fiction, non-fiction, children’s books and poetry with a focus on supporting First Nations creatives and their stories. She…

Brisbane born Yvette Henry Holt heralds from the Bidjara, Yiman and Wakaman Nations of Queensland. A multi-award-winning poet, academic, editor, national facilitator of First Nations literature, and social landscape photographer, Yvette has lived and worked in the greater region of the Australian Central Deserts for some fourteen years. Chairperson of FNAWN First Nations Writers Network,…