Queerstories

Dr Senthorun Raj discusses how his queer career as a glitter radiating academic lawyer began with childhood fantasies of being Xena and Sailor Moon. Dr Senthorun Raj is a Lecturer in Law at Keele University and is passionate about glitter, pop culture, politics, and social justice. Sen's academic and activist work takes an intersectional approach to addressing the ways law deals with the lives of...

Erin finds a great, great love. Soon after she decides to get married, she has dinner in Lakemba with her parents. By day, Erin Riley's a social worker - having spent most of the last decade working in community aged care. By night, Erin's a skivvy-wearing fanatic, a Scandinavian crime drama aficionado, Americana folk music-listener and a real kitchen top. A dedicated reader, wrestling fan, swimme...

Musician Marcus Whale shares a prepubescent story of online romance, distance and self-discovery. Marcus Whale is a musician and performer working on Gadigal land. As a performer, he is a member of duo Collarbones and trio BV, as well as work under his own name, releasing an album "Inland Sea" in June 2016. Primarily forming an electronic world around his singing, the songs across these projects p...

A multicultural recipe for multicultural times, this piece was inspired by Paul's interviews for My Mother's Kitchen, a Queerstories collaboration with Google's Creative Labs: mymotherskitchen.com.au Paul van Reyk was born in Sri Lanka in 1952, migrating to Australia with his family in 1962. He came out publicly in 1978, and has spent the subsequent four decades as an activist. He has been a regul...

The epic tale of Gertrude and Mildred. This story was performed at Queerstories in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as at Newcastle Writer's Festival and Ubud Readers and Writers Festival in Bali. Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays and poetry. During an ext...

Wollongong teacher Brendan shares the story of how a 10-year-old inspired him to live authentically. This story was performed at Queerstories: Wollongong, supported by Wollongong City Libraries. Brendan Howarth is a chef by morning, student teacher by day and father & husband by night. He is a soon to be teacher who wants to inspire the future generations to be their best selves and create a g...

The title says it all... Kathleen performed this story at Queerstories: Hobart in 2019. Dr Kathleen Williams is a media studies academic. She publishes work on the social uses of media technologies, particularly in relation to screen cultures, materiality and memory. However she is most qualified at forensically dissecting pop culture. Queerstories is an LGBTQIA+ storytelling night programmed by M...

Kait Fenwick dreams of heading out to Newcastle's answer to The Planet, but the night doesn't go quite as planned. Kait Fenwick is the author of Burning Between (Puncher & Wattmann). Their work has appeared in Seen & Heard zine, Butch is Not a Dirty Word, Cordite Poetry Review, Archer magazine and on the walls at China Heights Gallery, Surry Hills. In 2017, Kait completed their honours in...

Chloe Black realises that coming out to yourself is a lot like watching The Sixth Sense. Chloe Black began her stand-up career in Adelaide over 18 years ago. She has performed at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe and the Edinburgh Fringe. She is a broadcaster on Edge Radio in Hobart as co-host of Film Central and in her own show "It's Always Midnight Somewhere", which sh...

Through heartlines and bloodlines, Gabrielle tells a story of belonging, about her history and her family. This story was performed at the first Wollongong Queerstories, supported by Wollongong City Libraries. Gabrielle Journey Jones is a poet, percussionist and event producer living on Yuin Country, Far South Coast NSW. Gabe co-founded Creative Womyn Down Under in 2006 as a way to support other l...

Robert delivers a heartwarming love letter to a French-English dictionary (purportedly). Robert Dessaix is known as a leading broadcaster, for many years the producer and presenter of the ABC's Books and Writing program. He left his twenty year academic career as a lecturer in Russian language and literature at the University of New South Wales, and the Australian National University, to work in t...

Anthony reflects on an incredibly difficult time in his life, and farewells someone lost to him. In a former life, Anthony Venn-Brown was a high-profile Pentecostal preacher, speaking regularly in Australia's megachurches, as described in his autobiography, A Life of Unlearning. As the first Australian conversion therapy survivor to tell his story this opened a floodgate of responses from readers...

Sophie reflects on the ritual of the toothfairy, and on the importance of one's teeth. Sophie features on My Mother's Kitchen, a Queerstories collaboration with Google's Creative Labs: mymotherskitchen.com.au Sophie Harper has worked in film as a director, editor and producer, and in government film institutions, the Australian Film Commission and Screen Australia. In 2009 she moved to Denmark to...

Corrie reflects on the things that can get lost in translation, and on the burdens and responsibilities placed on an immigrant child. Corrie Chen is an award-winning filmmaker and a highly sought-after director of Australian television. Working across comedy and drama, her recent work includes Homecoming Queens, Five Bedrooms, Mustangs FC and Seachange. She is the 2018 Film Victoria's Greg Tepper...

A story of 3 heartbreaks and the cat who witnessed them all. Monica Zanetti is an AWGIE nominated screenwriter whose past credits include the film “Skin Deep” and the TV shows “Sisters”, “Tonightly with Tom Ballard” and the upcoming channel 10 series “My life is Murder” staring Lucy Lawless. Most recently she just finished writing and directing the H...

Jean comes out - as a fanfic writer. A nostalgic throwback to simpler times, when representation was out of reach and a young writer found fame - and critique - online. Jean Tong is a Melbourne-based writer. Her previous work includes Hungry Ghosts (Melbourne Theatre Company), Romeo Is Not The Only Fruit (The Coopers Malthouse, MICF), and Anti Hero (Monash Centre for Theatre and Performance). She...

Stand-up comedian and lifelong thespian Charity Werk reflects on how a very straight high school can lead a group of young boys to explore their sexuality and gender expression - all through the magic of musical theatre. Charity Werk is a part-time comedian and a full time natural beauty. Making her debut as a RAW Comedy State Finalist in 2018, Charity has quickly established herself as a star on...

Annaliese chronicles the campaign for a Queer Space at the University of Wollongong in 2004, complete with a 48 hour occupation and arrests by riot police. Annaliese Constable is a writer, performer and queer rights activist working across standup, queer performance and theatre. Annaliese is funny for a girl, pretty for a lesbian and when she can afford it very well medicated. You can follow her o...

In the midst of the AIDS crisis, a love affair starts with two young men meeting on an overnight train and ends, a decade later, in a moment of resolute determination amid overwhelming grief and loss. Paul Kidd is a lawyer, activist, writer and troublemaker. He has been living with HIV for more than 30 years and has been a long-time advocate for people with HIV. His work focuses on LGBTIQ rights,...

Vincent is so busy preparing to volunteer at Camp Out that he almost forgets it's his birthday. Vincent Silk is a writer living in Narrm / Melbourne. His fiction and non fiction has been published in journals Archer, Going Down Swinging, and Seizure. He has been a writer in residence at Next Wave Festival and Firstdraft Gallery, and has made text work for exhibitions at ACCA, Alaska Projects, Auto...

When meat and three veg meets prawn flan, Kip shares a tale of both creative and romantic collaboration. Kip Chapman was a recipient of the New Zealand Arts Foundation New Generation Award for services to theatre in 2013. He was a core cast member of the Emmy Winning TV drama Top of the Lake, and has also appeared in numerous other film & TV productions. In 2017 he was the Creative Director of...

Emma Valente contemplates loneliness, online dating and an unlikely friendship. Emma Valente is the Co-Artistic director and Co-CEO of feminist theatre company THE RABBLE . She is also a director, lighting designer, dramaturg, video designer and occasional trouble maker. Emma has directed works for mainstage festivals and venues around the country, and overseas, she teaches Dramaturgy and Performa...

In 1995, Pixie was one of the first women to be accepted into the British Racing school in Newmarket in the UK. She reflects on that time, and on the impact she may or may not have had on her industry. Pixie Willo is a writer, reviewer, voice actor and performance poet from the Blue Mountains. For the last three years Pixie has worked as a theatre reviewer and interviewer for the Stages theatre sh...

At 71, Joy's Dad gets a Facebook account, and it changes their family forever. Joy Ng opened The Bearded Tit 4 years ago with two friends as a place for the Redfern, artistic and queer community to congregate, experiment and dance together. Her investment in diversifying and creating space for Sydney's alternative nightlife sees her also sit on the City of Sydney's new Nightlife and Culture Adviso...

Kelly Azizi reflects on the undramatic but bewildering process of breaking up with her once-best-friend. Kelly Azizi is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Gender and Cultural Studies at the University of Sydney. Her research interests include the politics of ethno-cultural and diasporic identities, and institutional critique. Kelly plays an active role in Sydney's art community, and is...