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Underfoot at Williamstown Library

Boats on the water.

Okay I am the worst because I keep forgetting to promote anything until it’s already sold out! But if you managed to snag a ticket, Liz and I are doing another local history talk with the beautiful folks at Williamstown Library.

Williamstown, Underfoot
Thursday 18 July 2024
6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Williamstown Library
104 Ferguson Street
Williamstown VIC 3016
Book here

Today, Williamstown is best known as a picturesque seaside suburb, but its past was anything but tranquil.

Join local historian Liz Crash and writer Jinghua Qian as they delve into Willy’s hidden histories, uncovering tales of gambling dens, Chinese laundries, lady boxers, waterfront brawls, brothel sponsorship chaos, and Australia’s worst morgue. You can also discover how to unearth these buried stories yourself.

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Wicked Words at Vic Pride Centre

Event promo image of a woman with long thick hair leaning over. A leather paddle is in the background.

I’m so excited for this one! A multigenerational line-up of storytellers surrounded by projected images of unapologetic dykes from the archives of Wicked Women (1988–96), an erotic zine published by Lisa Salmon and Jasper Laybutt. I’ll be reading my dirty Lex posts/poems, drinking up the queer gaze. Horny on main, we love it.

Wicked Words is a storytelling event that celebrates dyke and queer and trans sexuality. Gird your loins and prepare yourself to be swept off your feet. The lineup of storytellers includes Maude Davey, Jinghua Qian, Annaki Kisses, Tomoko Yamasaki, Gavril Aleksandrs, Bumpy Favell, and Lisa Salmon with videopoems by ReVerse Butcher.

Wicked Words
Saturday 29 June 2024
7 pm to 10 pm
Victorian Pride Centre
79-81 Fitzroy Street
St Kilda VIC 3182
Tickets here

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Where two rivers meet | Willy Lit Fest

Join me, Tony Birch, Harry Saddler and Meyer Eidelson at Willy Lit Fest next week for a seaside chat about our fave rivers.

The confluence of the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers is of great ecological, psychogeographical and cultural significance—in particular to the Woi Wurrung and Boonwurrung Peoples of the Kulin Nation. Take an armchair journey along the river with Harry Saddler (A Clear Flowing Yarra), Meyer Eidelson (Melbourne Dreaming), Tony Birch (Ghost River) and Jinghua Qian (Underfoot).

Where two rivers meet
Saturday 15 June 2024
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
The Chamber, Williamstown Town Hall
104 Ferguson Street, Williamstown VIC 3016
Tickets from $20

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The place has character | Chestnut Tree Bookshop

This sold out very quickly so sorry to tease you if you didn’t get tickets, but Liz and I are doing a talk at Chestnut Tree Bookshop in West Footscray tonight!

It’s on reading, researching and writing Melbourne’s West. Liz is bringing a bag of rocks. I am powerless to stop her. See you soon – and if you missed out, we’re doing another event soon at Williamstown Library, so watch this space (hit subscribe!).

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In Australia, Pro-Palestine writers are defying censorship | Jacobin

Omar Sakr and I spoke to Jacobin’s Chris Dite about State Library Victoria, the escalating persecution of pro-Palestine workers in arts and media, and how workers across industries are joining together to fight back.

Genocide is impolite to talk about but not to enact. Safety means Zionists’ feelings and not Palestinians’ lives.

Like many of us, I’ve felt wary of drawing focus from the daily atrocities in Palestine to comparatively petty art world disputes here. I worry the story becomes one of cultural contestation instead of genocide.

But Israel’s genocide relies upon misinformation, censorship & propaganda. Misinformation and media bias have been critical in engineering impunity. I think the Library’s framing of ‘child and cultural safety’ is important, and dangerous, and deliberate.

For six months we have seen Israeli propaganda deny that Palestinian children are children. Think of Deborah Conway on ABC Radio National when asked about all the children killed: ‘Well it depends what you call kids.’ So I think this perversion of ‘child and cultural safety’ needs to be directly challenged.

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Feminist erotica with Dinner Party Press

I’m doing a gig next week where I’m gonna read all my best Lex posts. It’s not so much sexy poetry, more a microblog from the doldrums. Miserotica, if you will. Come have a laugh at my expense or buy me a drink.

Poster for the event with yellow text over fruit and flowers. Text duplicated below.

Dinner Party Press presents Feminist Erotica
with Katia Ariel, Amy Brown, Joan Fleming and Jinghua Qian
Saturday 17 February 2024
7 pm
Willows and Wine, Wurundjeri country
315 Victoria Street, West Melbourne VIC 3003
Book here

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Teen Writing Bootcamp | State Library Victoria

Calling all teen writers: I’m hosting an 8-week bootcamp with State Library Victoria on journalism and non-fiction writing later this year. Interested? Come to the online info sesh on 8 Feb 2024 to find out more.

Writer Jinghua Qian stands against a black sculpture wearing an indigo denim shirt. Text overlay says "Teen writing bootcamp info ession 8 Feb".

All sessions are free, open to writers across Australia aged 13 to 18.

As well as my bootcamp on journalism and non-fiction, there’s YA fiction with Alison Evans, poetry with Omar Sakr, playwriting with Jessica Bellamy, sci-fi and fantasy with Amie Kaufman, and comics with Ariel Slamet Ries.

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Worth While at Queen Vic Market

Roll up, roll up! It’s a speculative time travel game at Queen Vic Market!

Back after being thwarted by Covid, Worth While is a live roleplay that Mick and I created through the Testing Grounds’ Public Art Park residency next to QVM. We’re running just one session on Saturday 9 December.

We wanted to make something fun and spiky – something that pokes breathing holes in how we think about cost, value and the market, that also has space for different feelings. Softness and silliness and homesickness. The smell of fish and the squish of a persimmon. So somehow we ended up with time travel.

It’s free, fun and possibly the momentary break from this reality you need right now:

Worth While
Saturday 9 December 2023
11 am to 12 pm
Testing Grounds, Queen Victoria Market
Free | book here

Worth While is a live-action time travel game exploring what value really is.

Take on a new identity as a traveller from the year 2100. Go through a time machine to the market in 2023 where you can hunt for bargains and treasures to take home to the future. Then show and tell your fellow travellers what you found so you can pass through customs.

We look backwards to taking you to the past!