writer & thinker
‘Nearly every writer here seems wary of the risks of putting something on the record and into the crosshairs of the governable. The space between the lines is heavy with purposeful omissions as well as inherited silences.’
I reviewed the latest Liminal anthology, Against Disappearance (ed. Leah Jing McIntosh and Adolfo Aranjuez), for The Saturday Paper.
‘Genderless’ has become a buzzword in fashion, but what does it actually mean, besides brands being able to double their market for every item?
For The Guardian, I talked to trans and nonbinary designers and retailers about genderless branding, pinkwashing and what labels could do instead of whacking a rainbow on it.
‘I don’t think we should take the gender out of fashion’, says Rae Hill, designer at Origami Customs. ‘Instead of “genderless”, there needs to be more of a fluidity of gender. The gender of a piece of clothing is whatever gender you feel when you wear it, and not that you have to fit into the gender of that piece.’
‘When I do refer to recipes, I prefer to use the web, and my usual process is to skim half a dozen recipes from different websites so I can triangulate the common denominators, and then proceed with the laziest version possible.’
I’m not much of a cookbook user but I read, reviewed and cooked and ate my way through Fuchsia Dunlop’s celebrated Jiangnan cookbook, Land of Fish and Rice, for Going Down Swinging – which occupies a soft spot in my heart because it was the first lit journal I was ever published in.
You can also check out the social threads I did leading up to the review on Going Down Swinging’s Twitter account: 1, 2, 3, 4
A little while ago I spoke to New York Times contributor Brian Ng about airlines failing nonbinary passengers in their booking systems while pursuing the pink dollar. Read or listen to the story below.
Big thanks to Brian for pursuing this story, and shoutout also to photographer Asanka Brendon Ratnayake – I am so awkward in front of a camera but he really put me at ease and we had a nice chat about NYT Australia and journalism in Asia, Australia and the US.
Yes it’s another panel! This time with Anna Spargo-Ryan and Marisa Wikramanayake on freelancing.
Usually, being a fulltime writer isn’t just about writing. It’s also about pitching, managing your time, developing relationships and chasing up invoices. Freelance life is often simultaneously stressful and liberating. Whether you’re considering freelance life, taking on a little freelance work alongside a full- or part-time job or looking for tips to improve your current practices, three experienced freelance writers are here to answer your questions.
Ask about… navigating freelance life
Tuesday 19 July
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
Online
Book here | $18-$40 or free via the WV Fund
Another event I’m part of at EWF this year is a lunchtime panel demystifying the writing and publishing industry, particularly for writers from working-class and low-income backgrounds. It’s with Julia Rose Bąk and Dan Hogan, and it’s online via YouTube so you can join from anywhere.
Lunchtime Literature: Accessing the industry
Friday 24 June 2022
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Online (via YouTube)
Free | Join/watch here
Check out the rest of the program here, there’s a lot on and most of it’s free!
I’m part of two events at Emerging Writers Festival this year and luckily I don’t have to leave Footscray for either of them! The first one is at the local library and it features me, Khalid Warsame and Harry Reid talking about place, poetry, and the western suburbs.
Writing the west
Tuesday 21 June 2022
6 pm to 7 pm
Footscray Library
56 Paisley St, Footscray VIC 3011
Free | book here
In case you missed it, here are my stories from Season 3 of ABC TV’s China Tonight.
This one on languages other than Mandarin was so much fun to write and shoot with the marvellous Annie Louey.
And this one on mental health and involuntary treatment, featuring Dr George Hu (SIMHA), Peng Yanzi (LGBT Rights Advocacy China) and Qin Xiaojie (CandleX).
Thanks so much to the team as always and especially all my sources. You can watch full episodes on ABC iview, or via YouTube.
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.
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.
Jinghua Qian 