writer & thinker
I have a little piece titled ‘In praise of laziness (portrait of my grandma in the frozen section)’ in a new limited edition publication called Feast of Resistance. Curated by Priya Pavri, with contributions from artists Moorina Bonini, Aida Azin, Lara Chamas, Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Shamen Suku and Nikki Lam, it’s launching this Saturday at Seventh Gallery.
Feast of Resistance launch
Saturday 14 May 2022
2 pm to 4:30 pm
Seventh Gallery
213-215 Church St, Richmond VIC 3121
Free | RSVP here
Emerging writers, Maddee and I are doing a session at the 2022 National Editors and Writers Conference (NEWS Conference) later this month. There’s also a keynote from writer and editor Adalya Nash Hussein, and workshops on interviewing skills, podcasting, criticism, and much more.
And if you’re trans/nonbinary/gender-diverse, you can also catch me and Maddee dishing our career advice in The Drop-In this month.
We’re just getting started
Thursday 19 May 2022
6:40 pm to 7:40 pm AEST
Streaming online via YouTube and Express Media
Tickets $25 (3-day conference + Express Media membership) | Register here
See the full program
Are you just starting out in writing and editing? We’ve all been there! Join Jinghua Qian and Maddee Clark as they discuss their experiences of starting out in the industry and give tips on things they wish they’d known.
For The Guardian, I spoke to Venice Biennale artist Yuki Kihara about fa’afafine community, climate change, and resisting the image of the lone genius in her show Paradise Camp.
Solicited advice for trans & gender diverse folks starting out in the creative industries.
All through May 2022, I’m running five online workshops for trans/nonbinary/gender diverse folks on starting out in the creative industries, featuring an all-star line up:
They’re all free, you can join from anywhere in the world, and you can come to as few or as many as you like. More info at the booking links above. Can’t wait!
Liminal Vol. II is sickening in chartreuse with 200 pages of Asian Australian excellence across art, writing & conversations. And it features my first collage: six pages of archival treasures and commentary on Chinatown from the 1800s to the 1980s. Buy it here.
Following the grand tradition of me forgetting to mention events until they’re sold out, I’m on a panel this weekend with Sandy O’Sullivan, Amao Leota Lu and Yves Rees. You can’t come! Sorry!
Feast of Resistance launch
Saturday 14 May 2022
2 pm to 4:30 pm
Seventh Gallery
213-215 Church St, Richmond VIC 3121
Free | RSVP here
There are still tickets left for many of the other All About Women* festival events though – I’ll be going to the panel First Nations Women Look to the Future ft Aileen Moreton-Robinson, Chelsea Watego, Alison Whittaker, Amy McQuire and host Larissa Behrendt.
Also check out Deborah Kelly’s project Creation – you can go to a choral workshop where you’ll learn to sing SJ Norman’s incredible liturgy, attend a procession, or witness the world premiere of the musical works based on poems by Ellen van Neerven, Evelyn Araluen, Heather Grace Jones and me! Pretty excited for that.
* Not only about women.
Dinner Party Press’s annual vaguely-Valentine’s Day feminist erotica salon is back, and I’m in the line-up again, this time with Tuesday Atzinger, Kat Capel and Joan Fleming.
Saturday 5 March 2022
7 pm to 10 pm
Willows & Wine
315 Victoria St, West Melbourne VIC 3003
Tickets from $22.20 | book here
Join Arts Project Australia and West Space to celebrate the closing of the joint fandom-focused exhibition Sincerely Yours next weekend.
There’ll be an artist talk with curator Sophia Cai and artists Danny Lyons and Dylan Goh, followed by me, Natasha Hertanto and Diego Ramirez reading our commissioned fanfic. Then K-pop dance group AO crew will bust some moves and the bar will be open.
Saturday 5 March 2022
2 pm to 4 pm (exhibition open 12 pm to 4 pm)
Collingwood Yards
35 Johnston Street, Collingwood VIC 3066
free – no bookings required – Auslan interpreted
The exhibition will be open until Sunday 6 March. You can also read all the Sincerely Yours fanfic, including mine, here at West Space Offsite.
Hot off the press! n-SCRIBE 15 is an anthology of 40 works by Darebin writers and artists (including cover artist Tama Sharman) that you can pick up in Darebin libraries, cafes and bookstores for free.
In case you missed it, my poem ‘Still life’ appears in Best of Australian Poems 2021, the Australian Poetry anthology edited by Ellen van Neerven and Toby Fitch. Ask for it at your local bookstore or library or order it online.
Jinghua Qian 