Ivy explains how Townsville turned her into the joke making abomination she is today. Inspired by both her father and Shaun Micallef, Ivy Hawke completed a law degree then went straight to Brisbane to become a comedian. Her comedic style is a mix of chaotic ramblings, punch lines about lessons she learnt growing up queer in Townsville and disaster tales formed from not paying attention to her surroundings. Ivy runs a dungeons and dragons radio show on zed digital where she encourages writers and...
Feb 27, 2023•10 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast Benjamin wrestles with a recent gay trauma, and finds a way to process it and plan for the future. Benjamin Law is an Australian writer, broadcaster and absolute icon. He’s written books, TV shows, plays, he hosts Stop Everything on ABC Radio National, he writes for Good Weekend , he’s hosted documentaries, he’s on Australian Survivor, I don’t know when he sleeps, it’s outrageous. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events aroun...
Feb 20, 2023•12 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast Shanaya reflects on her year 7 speech assignment. Shanaya Donovan is 18 and a proud Darug, Dhungutti and Gumbayngirr woman from Western Sydney. A lover of music and art, and believer in knowledge and truth. She’s staunch and aiming to change it up through breaking down social and cultural barriers and rewriting the rules of the world. She performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsay Ross and hosted by Neville...
Feb 06, 2023•10 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast Keith writes a letter to someone who needs to hear it. Keith Quayle is a Malyangapa and Barkindji gay man, who was raised on Dharug country. His lived experience of the NSW correctional system informs the advocacy work he carries out on behalf of trans and gender diverse people in detention. He performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsay Ross and hosted by Neville Williams Boney. Queerstories an award-winning LGB...
Jan 30, 2023•9 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast Gary remembers the events that led him from the small country town where he grew up to the big city. GaryLonesborough is an award-winning Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coastof NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. His debut YA novel,THEBOY FROM THE MISH, was published in February 2021, and was published byScholastic in the U.S asREADY WHEN YOU AREin March 2022.THE BOY FROMTHE MISHhas been shortlisted for numerous awards, winning the 2022 BooktopiaFAB Award for Favourite...
Jan 23, 2023•8 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast Zac learns an important life lesson: never travel with your ex. Zac Roberts is a Yuin man currently living on Wallamattagal land, Dharug country. He’s a historian, currently struggling through a PhD about the relationships between Indigenous and Jewish people in Australia since 1788. Zac has previously worked in museums, education, and as a pizza delivery driver. He performed this story at Blacktown Arts Centre as part of Kolour Me Kweer an all First Nations line up curated by Steven Lindsa...
Jan 16, 2023•10 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast Jinny-Jane realises there's something that makes her different from her loved ones, and she finds a way to tell them. Jinny-Jane Smith is a proud Wiradjuri/ Walbunja woman of the Yuin nation. Jinny identifies as a lesbian woman, mother and aunty to many. She is a dedicated advocate, giving her time to enhance communities, address social justice and self-determination for the betterment of community. Jinny is the Community Engagement Officer of BlaQ. She sits on the board of Gadiga...
Jan 09, 2023•10 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast A coming of age tale, from junior school to a Catholic high school via more than a few netball courts. Following a very, very long corporate career, Chris Southcote burst onto the comedy scene in 2020. He has since bagged gigs throughout Australia; he was a grand finalist in Sydney’s Comedy on Edge 2021, Queensland Raw Semi-Finalist 2021 and the Sunny Coast Festivals Laughable Runner Up 2021. At an age where he could quite possibly be hitting “mid life crisis” territory, he comes armed with year...
Dec 19, 2022•10 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast Aurelia tells a tale about working minimum wage in dimly lit stores, fashion internships and meeting Dennis Rodman at the Playboy Lounge. Aurelia St Clair is a comedian, writer, podcaster and dog mother who now calls Melbourne home. You can listen to another of Aurelia’s stories on the lockdown edition of the podcast I produced in 2020, head to Queerstories.com.au and look her up. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Aus...
Dec 12, 2022•11 min•Ep 68•Transcript available on Metacast Kirsty has an encounter with the Otway Panther...or does she? Kirsty Webeck is back with another tale, this one performed at Brisbane Comedy Festival in 2022. If you don’t know who Kirsty is, I’m not sure where you’ve been. She’s a national treasure. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed by Maeve Marsden, with regular events around Australia. For more information, visit www.queerstories.com.au and follow Queerstories on Facebook. The Queerstories book is publi...
Dec 05, 2022•9 min•Ep 67•Transcript available on Metacast Jude resists her impulse to tell a sad a sad and traumatic story, instead finding happiness in the most unlikely of rubbish places: school. Jude Perl has been performing music and comedy for nearly a decade, touring, recording and winning 3 Green Room Awards for Best Original Songs, a Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Artiste and Best Cabaret at Melbourne Fringe. She’s sold out seasons at Melbourne Comedy Festival, packed shows at The Hotel Cafe in LA and Ronnie Scott’s in London and in 201...
Nov 21, 2022•14 min•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast An innocuous message kick-starts the second ‘Year of Realising Things’ (as Kylie Jenner would put it) for Thomas - filled with realisations that allowed him to stop worrying and love his brain. Thomas Parer is a creative producer, DJ, ex-lawyer and bon vivant living in Meanjin, probably best known for being the creator and producer of local queer dance party, Shandy. Thomas is passionate about creating safer spaces for people to connect and believes in the community building potential of parties...
Nov 14, 2022•15 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast Steven has so many slutty stories to tell - but somehow he whittles it down to three... Steven Oliver is a descendant of the Kuku-Yalanji, Waanyi, Gangalidda, Woppaburra, Bundjalung and Biripi peoples. He has worked with numerous theatre companies, festivals and arts organisations across Australia but became notorious with ABC’s Logie/AACTA nominated sketch comedy show Black Comedy as a writer/actor/associate producer. He is co-creator/writer/presenter for Indigenous Arts Quiz Show Faboriginal a...
Nov 07, 2022•15 min•Ep 63•Transcript available on Metacast En route to Melbourne Comedy Festival, Christian has a memorable encounter at the covid clinic. Christian Hull is a comedian and creator who has accumulated over 600 million views on his videos and gained a loyal following of over 2 million on social media. Here’s hoping every single one of those people listens to this podcast episode! Christian’s podcast “Complete Drivel’ drives over 9,000 listeners tuning into each episode to hear his outlandish stories and general chit chat and currently sits...
Oct 31, 2022•10 min•Ep 62•Transcript available on Metacast Nadine shares a collection of tales from a queer life. Nadine Chemali is a writer, researcher and social worker. She is dedicated to creating and nurturing communities, facilitating discussions on identity, sexuality, displacement and representation, discourse she feels was missing from her own migrant upbringing in Australia. She has written for publications like SBS Voices, The Big Issue, The Guardian and has spoken at events like Melbourne Writers Festival and Brisbane Feminist Festival. Quee...
Oct 24, 2022•14 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast Jeremy's parents keep asking him, “Jerms! What do you want to be when you grow up?” Now in his twenties, he chronicles the way his answers change over time. Jeremy Lloyd Santos is a first generation Filipino Australian Movement artist and Writer who’s intersections of Dance, Spoken Word & Mythology have provided pathways, platforms and perspectives for him to explore and express his experiences and views as a Queer millennial of the Asian Diaspora living with HIV. His professional pract...
Oct 17, 2022•10 min•Ep 60•Transcript available on Metacast Fahad remembers what it took for his mother to finally meet one of his boyfriends. Fahad Ali is a molecular biologist, science educator, and writer. He is a member of the Palestinian diaspora, a co-founder of the Queer Solidarity Film Festival and the Muslims for Marriage Equality campaign group, and a community advocate and organiser. He performed this piece at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta then again at the Sydney Opera House for All About Women. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storyt...
Oct 11, 2022•10 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast Gloria pens a letter to their baby nephew and in doing so ponders what it means to be their Tita, or Tito, or simply Gloria. Gloria Demillo (they/them) is a poet, researcher and multidisciplinary creative. Their most notable contributions include the Harana Poetry Tour for the Art Gallery of New South Wales; published works with the Australian Poetry Journal, Peril Magazine, Cordite Poetry Review, Red Room Poetry; and performances at the Biennale of Sydney, the National Young Writers Festival, W...
Oct 03, 2022•10 min•Ep 58•Transcript available on Metacast A sleepy beachside town is the unlikely setting for Laura's wildly unlikely, memorable meetcute. Laura Hart is a drag king, comedian & improviser who has been performing for yonks. They are the founder and host of popular drag show The Kings & Drag King Bingo, and have toured around Australia and internationally. They perform and teach at Improv Theatre Sydney, and in 2022 they won an Honour Award for Arts and Culture. Queerstories an award-winning LGBTQI+ storytelling project directed b...
Sep 26, 2022•13 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast Eda's always considered herself a cultural ambassador for being gay, but a night out during Mardi Gras isn't quite the promotional tour she'd hoped for. Eda Gunaydin is a Turkish-Australian writer and researcher interested in class, race and diaspora. You can find her essays and creative non-fiction in Meanjin, The Sydney Review of Books and The Lifted Brow. She has been shortlisted for a Queensland Literary Award and the Scribe Non-Fiction Prize. She is currently Contrib...
Sep 19, 2022•11 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast Adrian recalls a formative encounter with a boy at school, and reflects on how their memories of fighting intersects with their experiences of gender. Adrian Mouhajer is a non-binary lesbian Lebanese writer, fighter, and all-around class clown that never really grew out of it. They specialise in over-sharing and giving good hugs which surprisingly comes in handy when they fight because they prefer grappling over striking. They currently work at ACON as a Program Coordinator of Safety, Inclusion,...
Sep 12, 2022•8 min•Ep 55•Transcript available on Metacast Mary tells a story she's well-versed in, one I’ve told herself in one form or another for as long as she can remember, but she reimagines it for where she is now. Mary Duong is a filmmaker and video artist. She created and co-wrote queer drama web series, ‘ TWO WEEKS’ , which premiered at Brisbane Queer Film Festival 2018, and won Best Web Series at the SAE ATOM Awards 2018. Through the Screen Queensland/SBS Unscripted initiative, she produced and co-wrote ‘ BANANAS’ , which was an official sele...
Aug 08, 2022•11 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast Madeleine recalls the markedly different approaches her family members took to chatting to her about disability. Award-winning comedian Madeleine Stewart has performed with the likes of Adam Hills, Rove McManus and Andrew Denton. A hilarious turn on ABC Tonightly with NDIS Fails showcased her ground-breaking exploration of disability and social norms. Practicing what she preaches, Madeleine won the AMP Tomorrowmaker award for her production of inclusive, accessible comedy show Crips & Creeps...
Jul 25, 2022•16 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast Gary writes a letter to an idol and hopes it may one day reach her... Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. Growing up a massive Kylie Minogue and North Queensland Cowboys fan, Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. Gary has experience working in Aboriginal health, the disability sector (including experience working in the youth ...
Jul 18, 2022•7 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast Raised on American culture, AJ trades in the high-rises of his council estate for the rolling hills of the Bay Area and the cramped, densely populated ends of London for the seemingly never-ending mansions of campus life. Making the NSW Raw Comedy State Finals in 2020, AJ Lamarque has written for a number of TV productions (currently being developed), and has appeared on podcasts such as Wax Quizzical , Dungeons & Drag Queers , and I Speak Giant as well as being a regular contributor for Jus...
Jul 11, 2022•10 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast An excerpt from Peter's work in progress about his mother, a midwife runs through a village trying to find the person birthing. Peter Polites is a novelist from Western Sydney. He has written two queer noirs, Down the Hume and The Pillars, which won the 2020 NSW Premier’s Multicultural Literary Award. He also won the 2020 Woollahra Digital Literature Prize for Fiction. In 2021 he was the ACT Writer in Residence at UNSW Canberra and working on his third novel, God Forgets About the Poor. Queersto...
Jul 04, 2022•9 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast As a child growing up in rural England, Jo discovers the queer God in unexpected places. Josephine Inkpin is the first openly and fully recognised transgender Anglican priest in Australia, now currently working as Minister of Pitt Street Uniting Church in Sydney. Chair of Equal Voices, the national network of LGBTIQ+ Christians and allies, Jo has also been a prominent leader in inter-faith, multicultural, Reconciliation and other justice activities over many years. Originally from England, and l...
Jun 27, 2022•13 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Glace's attempt to walk the opening ceremony goes pear-shaped despite, or perhaps because of, encounters with Sasha Velour, Xtina and Nicki Minaj. Glace Chase is an award winning multi-disciplinary “trans-queen” / performer / playwright / comedienne / screenwriter / tour guide / bon vivant. Glace created the world’s first Drag Queen Tour Guide business – Dream Queen Tours – named “Best Alternative Tour” by the International Travel & Hospitality Awards. As a playwright Glace has won two Griff...
Jun 20, 2022•15 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast Yalda shares his journey from Iran to Australia as a refugee. Yalda is an Iranian queer man, Radical Faerie, DJ, musician, poet, activist, and masseur. Now a Lismore local, Yalda grew up surrounded by lush green nature in the north of Iran, near the Caspian Sea. He attended an Islamic High School and his experiences in Iran led him to develop a strong passion for human rights and protesting injustice. Two things guide him in life; music and massage. He uses both to work on the spirit, soul, body...
Jun 13, 2022•13 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast Sophie likes playing with tools...she finds a beautiful way to share that passion with others. Sophie Wilksch is the Director of Shedding Community Workshop Inc, a not-for-profit organisation located in Mullumbimby. Sophie has 10 years experience in sustainable architecture, building and carpentry and established the workshop in May 2018. Sophie is trained in non-violent communication and Mental Health First Aid. Shedding Community Workshop offers a safe space and haven, aiming to share life ski...
Jun 06, 2022•11 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast 
