Queerstories

Celebrating the culture and creativity of the LGBTQI+ community one true story at a time, Queerstories has played to crowds big and small, from Mudgee to Murwillumbah, Albury to Adelaide, Brisbane and beyond. Featuring J.M. Field, George Haddad, Bebe Oliver, K Patrick and Samantha Shannon.

ABOUT THE PANEL

MAEVE MARSDEN
Maeve Marsden is the Creative Director of Varuna the National Writers’ House and the Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival. A writer and theatremaker in her own right, she is perhaps best known for producing national storytelling project Queerstories for the last eight years.

JM FIELD
Dr JM Field (Spearim) is a Gamilaraay mari from Moree way, but grew up on Darug land in a small town along the Great Dividing Range. He studied maths and French literature at the University of Sydney, before completing a doctorate at Balliol College, Oxford. He is currently a McKenzie Fellow in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Melbourne. JM is the author of Etta and the Shadow Taboo as well as a forthcoming collection on Gamilaraay kinship and philosophy.

GEORGE HADDAD
Dr George Haddad is an award-winning writer, artist and academic practising on Gadigal land. His novella, Populate and Perish, was the winner of the 2016 Viva La Novella competition and his short story, ‘Kátharsis’, was awarded the 2018 Neilma Sidney Prize. George’s novel, Losing Face, was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award, the Small Press Network’s Book of the Year, and The Readings Prize. In 2023, he was named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist. He is a lecturer and researcher at the Writing and Society Research Centre, Western Sydney University.

BEB OLIVER
Bebe Oliver is a descendant of the Bardi Jawi people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia and is an award-winning writer based in Naarm. A leader in Aboriginal advancement, he is Chairperson of Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival and a Board Director of Magabala Books, Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house. A writer, poet, illustrator, speaker and facilitator living on unceded Kulin land, Bebe’s widely published work encompasses love, loss, identity, Aboriginal and gay existence, place and Country. Bebe’s debut solo poetry collection is more than these bones.

K PATRICK
K Patrick is a writer based in Scotland. Their poetry has appeared in Poetry Review, Granta and Five Dials and was shortlisted for The White Review Poet’s Prize in 2021, the same year that K was also shortlisted for The White Review’s Short Story Prize. In 2023, they were shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award. Their debut novel, Mrs S, was selected as an Observer Best Debut of the Year and K was named a Granta Best of Young British Novelists for 2023. Their debut poetry collection, Three Births, will be published by Granta Poetry in March 2024.

SAMANTHA SHANNON
Samantha Shannon is The New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author of the Bone Season series and the Roots of Chaos series. Her work has been translated into 26 languages. She lives in London.