writer & thinker
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.
A couple of months ago, curator Sophia Cai asked me to pen some fanfiction for Sincerely Yours, an exhibition in collaboration with West Space x Arts Project Australia that explores fannish love and devotion.
So of course, : ‘One night snatch, or Brother Wang’s guide to eating out in Tashkent’. I think it’s one of the best and certainly the most embarrassing thing I wrote in the last six months.
If you’re in Melbourne, the exhibition is on until 6 March 2022 and you can also explore the other online pieces on West Space Offsite.
URST = unresolved sexual tension
RPF = real person fic
AU = alt universe
A workshop for members of marginalised, underrepresented and misrepresented groups on how to assess and respond to media requests. Presented by freelance reporter Jinghua Qian with support from the Foundation for Young Australians.
Sat 12 Feb 2022
2pm to 3:30pm
online via Zoom
free – register here – add to cal
People from marginalised backgrounds often have good reason to distrust the media. At the same time, it can be a valuable way of getting your voice heard. So I wanted to offer a workshop on how to talk to journalists without feeling like you’re losing control of your own story.
Continue reading “Workshop: How to talk to journalists”If you missed the Industry Insight panel at Emerging Writers Festival yesterday with me, Vivienne Pearson and Jeanette Severs, you can watch it here:
And below are some resources we shared during the session.
Continue reading “Industry Insight | EWF”I’m doing a couple of events at Emerging Writers’ Festival:
Dream House
Saturday 19 June 2021, 7 pm to 8 pm
Footscray Community Arts Centre
$15/$20 – book here
Where are the houses, rooms or places you return to in your memory or imagination? Which spaces have stuck inside of you long after you’ve vacated? These Western suburbs artists paint rooms with words, telling us about the places, homes and lives they’ve inhabited and how those spaces have shaped them, in an evening of works that ponder place and interrogate transfiguration. Hosted by Irihipeti Waretini (full list of performers at the link.)
Industry Insight
Monday 21 June, 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
presented via YouTube in partnership with MEAA
free – join/view here
With writing being such a solitary practice, entering into the world of words can be confusing and isolating. So, what are your rights as a writer? How much can you expect to make from your words and how do you go about advocating for yourself as a freelancer? Our panelists (Jinghua Qian and Vivienne Pearson) discuss their experiences and what they have learned along the way.
The whole program is pretty rad so go check it out. A lot of the events are free and online too which is great to see. And I’m thrilled that quite a few people I’ve mentored over the last year as part of The Drop-In are featured!
I don’t know if anyone is ready for this, least of all me, but next Friday I’m making my fanfiction debut at Footscray Community Arts Centre as part of the Smut: Queer Erotic Fan Fiction Salon curated by Sissy Screens.
Here’s a sneak peek of my piece – can you guess who the primary pairing is? (Clue: It’s a crossover fic.)
The event is part of Midsumma Festival and it also features Vidya Rajan, Nkechi Anele, Tali Polichtuk, Zoey Dawson, Alistair Baldwin, Ruby Slippers, Wilk Crate and Zoe Terakes. Auslan interpreted. It’s gunna be hot and nerdy!
I’m going to be reading some smut tomorrow night along with Mia Walsch, Ella Baxter and Liz Hicklin for our belated Valentine’s Day date. Tickets are sold out but if you’re lucky enough to have nabbed one, come join us down at the local for cocktails and dirty words.
Sun 14 March 2021
5 pm to 7 pm
Trouble in Dreams
297 Barkly Street, Footscray, VIC 3011
booking required
Liz and I are running a short course at Maribyrnong Community Centre! Best of all, it’s free for participants.
Over four fortnightly workshops, develop research and storytelling skills with community historians Liz Crash and Jinghua Qian (co-creators of Underfoot, a multimedia project uncovering Footscray’s history). Participants will learn how to write, produce and share their own stories, and contribute to a visual presentation displayed at the centre. This hands-on workshop series is open to participants of all ages and skill levels. Please note: participants will need to attend all four sessions.
Thu 18 Mar, 1 Apr, 15 Apr, 29 Apr 2021
2 pm to 4 pm
Maribyrnong Community Centre
9 Randall St, Maribyrnong, Victoria 3032
free | booking required
There’s a book launch for Silent Dialogue 沉默的对话 tomorrow night in Collingwood if you’d like to join us in a celebration and meet some of the folks involved in the project. The book is an illustrated multilingual publication that accompanies the Silent Dialogue exhibition with images of original artworks and specially commissioned pieces of original writing by leading scholars and writers from across the country. I’ll be reading from my essay in the book, ‘We need new names’, which looks at the politics of changing your name.
Fri 5 Feb 2021
6:15 pm to 7:30 pm
Art Echo Gallery, Collingwood
free | booking required
You can also order the Silent Dialogue book here.
Jinghua Qian 