Canberra
Canberra – Saturday 21 September 2024
Session 1 – In Conversation with Biff Ward
11am – 12pm
Join Virginia Hausseger as she has an invigorating conversation with 2015 Stella Prize author Biff Ward for the first session of the day.Session 2 – The Rhythm of Writing
12:30pm – 1:30pm
2021 Stella Prize-listed author Pitaya Chin, is interviewed by writer Zoya Patel about their writing journey.Session 3 – Writing Across Different Genres
2pm – 3pm
Join 2021 & 2018 Stella Prize-listed author Mirandi Riwoe in an inspiring discussion about her writing journey. Moderated by Beejay Silcox.
Biff Ward’s memoir, The Third Chopstick: Tracks through the Vietnam War, was released in 2022. Her literary memoir, In My Mother’s Hands (Allen & Unwin, 2014), was short-listed for the NSW and WA Premiers’ literary awards and long-listed for The Stella Prize in 2015. In 1984, her ground-breaking expose, Father-Daughter Rape was published by The Women’s Press, UK. Her work has appeared in various anthologies and her novella, In1974, was a winner of the Griffith Review novella competition in 2017. She is grateful to live in Canberra on never-ceded Ngunnawal Country.
Virginia Haussegger AM is a passionate women’s advocate, and communication specialist with unique expertise in leading powerful conversations. She is also an award-winning television journalist, writer and commentator, whose extensive media career spans 30 years.
Pitaya Chin is a Stella-shortlisted (2021) and Barbara Jefferis (2022) award-winning novelist. Pitaya has had work published by New Socialist, Meanjin, Debris Magazine, Capitalism Nature Socialism, Burning House Press and Social Text Periscope.
Zoya Patel is the author of two books, No Country Woman (Hachette, 2018) and Once A Stranger (Hachette, 2023). She is the former editor of Lip Magazine, and founded literary journal Feminartsy, where she published and mentored emerging writers from 2014 – 2018. Zoya has also worked in strategic communications for a decade, dedicating her career to not-for-profits.
Mirandi Riwoe is the author of Sunbirds. Her novel, Stone Sky Gold Mountain, won the ARA Historical Novel Prize and the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. Her novella The Fish Girl won Seizure’s Viva la Novella and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. The Burnished Sun is a collection of her short stories and novellas. Mirandi has a PhD in Creative Writing and Literary Studies (QUT).
Beejay Silcox is a writer and literary critic. Her reviews and cultural commentary regularly appear in national arts publications, and are increasingly finding an international audience including in the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian, and The New York Times. She has been described as “the most significant new Australian critic in decades”. An award-winning creative writing teacher, Beejay has taught workshops across the globe, including in the US and Cairo. Her own short stories and essays have been selected for a number of high-profile Australian anthologies. Beejay has stories to tell. She eloped to Las Vegas, escaped from quicksand, and drove to Timbuktu in a car held together with a bra-strap. Beejay is the newly appointed Artistic Director of Canberra Writers Festival.
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