Black Salt

Peter Sipeli has more than two decades of expertise in using and managing advocacy through artistic expression. He is an Arts Manager, and supporter of the Spokenword arts movement in Fiji. Peter founded 'The Poetry Shop, Fiji' six years ago and facilitates regular poetry events in Suva and poetry circle discussions with new and emerging Fijian writers.

He works as a gay activist using storytelling as advocacy. Peter founded the online arts magazine ARTtalk, Fiji that in 2017 ran 10 issues showing arts in Fiji and across the region. From 2018 to 2020, ARTtalk, Fiji is incubated at the Oceania Centre for ARTS, Culture and Pacific Studies, alongside a podcast series, an audio component to ARTtalk.

Peter is passionate about developing the literary arts in Fiji and addressing prolonged silences in the art form. A SLAM poet with a large following, he is a champion of the revival of the literary movement in Fiji, working to provide spaces for new and emerging poets and artists to enable the framing of authentic local voices. In 2016, Peter was among seven presenters who participated in the inaugural Tedx Suva in which he spoke on 'Storytelling for Advocacy'.

Amanda is the founder and editor of Pacific Pencil Ltd, publisher of Stella Magazine in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Her vision for Stella Magazine is to provide an outlet for emerging and established writers to entertain and inform a young and influential audience in and from the Pacific region. Amanda hopes to challenge stereotypes levied on Pacific islanders by mainstream media by sharing positive stories and celebrating indigenous role models. Follow Amanda on Twitter and on Instagram.

A writer and development worker, Rebecca’s poetry, prose and short stories have been exhibited and read in public in Port Vila. A collaborative piece was published in Sport 47 with various poems, prose and short stories published in Vanuatu and the greater Pacific region in 2020. She wrote stories for and co-edited a Vanuatu children’s book, Taf Tumas: Different journeys, one people. She lives in Port Vila with her husband, sons and daughter.

Terri Janke is an Indigenous lawyer of Meriam and Wuthathi heritage. In 2000 she set up a law firm, Terri Janke and Company, focusing on Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) law and commercial law. She has acted for Indigenous and non-Indigenous clients, artists, community-controlled organisations, government and corporates.