Queerstories

Omar shares his poems. Omar Sakr is the author of two acclaimed poetry collections, These Wild Houses and The Lost Arabs, which won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. His debut novel, Son of Sin, is out now. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.a...

Krystal reflects on stargazing with her mum Krystal De Napoli is a Kamilaroi author and astrophysicist devoted to the advocacy of Indigenous knowledges and equity in STEM. She is the co-author of Astronomy: Sky Country, published in 2022, which explores the wondrous interconnected world of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander astronomy. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project d...

Dylan reflects on the steps he took to make it as a professional artist. Dylan Mooney is a proud Yuwi, Torres Strait and South Sea Islander man from Mackay in North Queensland working across painting, printmaking, digital illustration and drawing. Legally blind, the digital medium’s backlit display allows the artist to produce a high-impact illustrative style with bright, saturated colour that ref...

Kevin shares one of the most exceptional experiences of his life. Kevin Yow Yeh  is a Wakka Wakka and South Sea Islander man and current Higher Degree Research student and Sessional Academic at the Queensland University of Technology. Kevin is a Director at the Institute for Collaborative Race Research and is an active member of the Meanjin community where h...

Lara is tasked with producing a party at a funeral home for work, but life ends up complicating the process. Lara Thoms is interested in socially engaged, site-specific and participatory possibilities in contemporary art and performance. She works as an artist in Field Theory and is a co-director of Aphids . For ten years she has also been a curator and producer for organistations including Dark M...

Ivy explains how Townsville turned her into the joke making abomination she is today. Inspired by both her father and Shaun Micallef, Ivy Hawke completed a law degree then went straight to Brisbane to become a comedian. Her comedic style is a mix of chaotic ramblings, punch lines about lessons she learnt growing up queer in Townsville and disaster tales formed from not paying attention to her surr...

Benjamin wrestles with a recent gay trauma, and finds a way to process it and plan for the future. Benjamin Law is an Australian writer, broadcaster and absolute icon. He’s written books, TV shows, plays, he hosts Stop Everything on ABC Radio National, he writes for Good Weekend , he’s hosted documentaries, he’s on Australian Survivor, I don’t know when he sleeps, it’s outrageous. Queerstorie...

Shanaya reflects on her year 7 speech assignment. Shanaya Donovan is 18 and a proud Darug, Dhungutti and Gumbayngirr woman from Western Sydney. A lover of music and art, and believer in knowledge and truth. She’s staunch and aiming to change it up through breaking down social and cultural barriers and rewriting the rules of the world. She performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part...

Keith writes a letter to someone who needs to hear it. Keith Quayle is a Malyangapa and Barkindji gay man, who was raised on Dharug country. His lived experience of the NSW correctional system informs the advocacy work he carries out on behalf of trans and gender diverse people in detention. He performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up cu...

Gary remembers the events that led him from the small country town where he grew up to the big city. GaryLonesborough is an award-winning Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coastof NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. His debut YA novel,THEBOY FROM THE MISH, was published in February 2021, and was published byScholastic in the U.S asREADY WHEN YOU AREin March 2022.THE BOY FRO...

Zac learns an important life lesson: never travel with your ex. Zac Roberts is a Yuin man currently living on Wallamattagal land, Dharug country. He’s a historian, currently struggling through a PhD about the relationships between Indigenous and Jewish people in Australia since 1788. Zac has previously worked in museums, education, and as a pizza delivery driver. He performed this story at Bl...

Jinny-Jane realises there's something that makes her different from her loved ones, and she finds a way to tell them. Jinny-Jane Smith is a proud Wiradjuri/ Walbunja woman of the Yuin nation. Jinny identifies as a lesbian woman, mother and aunty to many. She is a dedicated advocate, giving her time to enhance communities, address social justice and self-determination for the betterm...

A coming of age tale, from junior school to a Catholic high school via more than a few netball courts. Following a very, very long corporate career, Chris Southcote burst onto the comedy scene in 2020. He has since bagged gigs throughout Australia; he was a grand finalist in Sydney’s Comedy on Edge 2021, Queensland Raw Semi-Finalist 2021 and the Sunny Coast Festivals Laughable Runner Up 2021. At a...

Aurelia 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...

Kirsty has an encounter with the Otway Panther...or does she? Kirsty Webeck is back with another tale, this one performed at Brisbane Comedy Festival in 2022. If you don’t know who Kirsty is, I’m not sure where you’ve been. She’s a national treasure. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, vis...

Jude resists her impulse to tell a sad a sad and traumatic story, instead finding happiness in the most unlikely of rubbish places: school. Jude Perl has been performing music and comedy for nearly a decade, touring, recording and winning 3 Green Room Awards for Best Original Songs, a Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Artiste and Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe. She’s sold out seasons at Melbourn...

An innocuous message kick-starts the second ‘Year of Realising Things’ (as Kylie Jenner would put it) for Thomas - filled with realisations that allowed him to stop worrying and love his brain. Thomas Parer is a creative producer, DJ, ex-lawyer and bon vivant living in Meanjin, probably best known for being the creator and producer of local queer dance party, Shandy. Thomas is passionate about cre...

Steven has so many slutty stories to tell - but somehow he whittles it down to three... Steven Oliver is a descendant of the Kuku-Yalanji, Waanyi, Gangalidda, Woppaburra, Bundjalung and Biripi peoples. He has worked with numerous theatre companies, festivals and arts organisations across Australia but became notorious with ABC’s Logie/AACTA nominated sketch comedy show Black Comedy as a writer/act...

En route to Melbourne Comedy Festival, Christian has a memorable encounter at the covid clinic. Christian Hull is a comedian and creator who has accumulated over 600 million views on his videos and gained a loyal following of over 2 million on social media. Here’s hoping every single one of those people listens to this podcast episode! Christian’s podcast “Complete Drivel’ drives over 9,000 listen...

Nadine shares a collection of tales from a queer life. Nadine Chemali is a writer, researcher and social worker. She is dedicated to creating and nurturing communities, facilitating discussions on identity, sexuality, displacement and representation, discourse she feels was missing from her own migrant upbringing in Australia. She has written for publications like SBS Voices, The Big Issue, The Gu...

Jeremy's parents keep asking him, “Jerms! What do you want to be when you grow up?” Now in his twenties, he chronicles the way his answers change over time. Jeremy Lloyd Santos is a first generation Filipino Australian Movement artist and Writer who’s intersections of Dance, Spoken Word & Mythology have provided pathways, platforms and perspectives for him to explore and express his experience...

Fahad remembers what it took for his mother to finally meet one of his boyfriends. Fahad Ali is a molecular biologist, science educator, and writer. He is a member of the Palestinian diaspora, a co-founder of the Queer Solidarity Film Festival and the Muslims for Marriage Equality campaign group, and a community advocate and organiser. He performed this piece at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta th...

Gloria pens a letter to their baby nephew and in doing so ponders what it means to be their Tita, or Tito, or simply Gloria. Gloria Demillo (they/them) is a poet, researcher and multidisciplinary creative. Their most notable contributions include the Harana Poetry Tour for the Art Gallery of New South Wales; published works with the Australian Poetry Journal, Peril Magazine, Cordite Poetry Review,...

A sleepy beachside town is the unlikely setting for Laura's wildly unlikely, memorable meetcute. Laura Hart is a drag king, comedian & improviser who has been performing for yonks. They are the founder and host of popular drag show The Kings & Drag King Bingo, and have toured around Australia and internationally. They perform and teach at Improv Theatre Sydney, and in 2022 they won an Hono...

Eda's always considered herself a cultural ambassador for being gay, but a night out during Mardi Gras isn't quite the promotional tour she'd hoped for. Eda Gunaydin is a Turkish-Australian writer and researcher interested in class, race and diaspora. You can find her essays and creative non-fiction in  Meanjin, The Sydney Review of Books  and  The Lifted Brow.  She has been sh...