Literary Death Match

Originally from Ballarat, Tobias worked for ten years as a dancer, touring Australia and New Zealand with musicals such as Mary Poppins, CATS, Singin’ in the Rain and Guys and Dolls. He now lives in Sydney with his husband, Daniel, and their Cavoodle, Ollie. Tobias Madden is the author of the ABIA longlisted Anything But Fine and the forthcoming Take A Bow, Noah Mitchell and editor of Underdog: #LoveOzYA Short Stories. He also co-wrote the cabaret show Siblingship, which played to sold-out audiences in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Tobias is a passionate member of the #LoveOzYA and LGBTQ+ communities.

Best known as an Australian comedian-actor, Reuben Kaye is considered a multi-talented artist, thanks to his involvement in several fields.

He is a TV presenter, actor, musician, and a global figure known for live shows.

Further, Kaye is a multi-award-winning personality, who has been honored with awards like Best Cabaret & Variety Show Weekly Award 2021 Perth FRINGE WORLD, Best Production Award 2019 Green Room Awards, The West Australian Newspaper Weekly Award 2021, and more.

Hope One is a Takatāpui Beatboxer and multi-disciplinary artist from Te Ātihaunui-a-Papārangi and Taranaki iwi of Aotearoa. Fusing together Human Beatboxing, Spoken Word, Storytelling, Drag and Movement to deliver captivating BeatRhyming experiences about identity, culture, queerness, motherhood and navigating trauma. Hope’s career started out winning an Australian Idol audition, landing a spot in the Beatbox Alliance - the very first Beatbox group in the Southern Hemisphere, touring nationally across Australia. Placing top four in the Women's division of the Beatboxing World Championships in Germany, warming up stages for major Hip Hop stars and touring the world with Internationally acclaimed theatre show Hot Brown Honey. Adding Poetry to her repertoire, she has been commissioned multiple times for Red Room Poetry, won Ruckus Slam heat in May and is making their published poet debut later this year in a lived-experience mental health poetry anthology curated by David Stavanger for MAD Poetry. Hope's writing their first theatre show in collaboration with Melanie Mununnggur called 'Do you thrust me?' set to debut later this year.

Benjamin Law is the author of The Family Law (2010), Gaysia (2012), the Quarterly Essay 'Moral Panic 101' (2017) and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia (2019). He also created and co-wrote three seasons of the award-winning SBS TV series The Family Law and the play Torch the Place for Melbourne Theatre Company. He's co-host of the national pop culture show Stop Everything on ABC Radio National.

Dr Lee McGowan is writer, researcher and teacher at the University of the Sunshine Coast. He recently published Football Fiction: A History (2019) and co-authored Never Say Die: The Hundred Year Overnight Success of Australian Women's Football (2019). His other research interests include digital narratives and community engagement. Lee follows Glasgow Celtic and the Matildas.

Martine Kropkowski is a writer and researcher based in Brisbane. She teaches professional and creative writing at The University of Queensland, where she also investigates conspiracy theories and high-demand groups as part of her PhD. Martine writes essays on literature and culture, and her debut novel Everywhere We Look is out in November 2024 with Ultimo Press.

Jonathan O'Brien is a Brisbane-based writer, educator, and creative freelancer, described as “a fresh and exciting voice” by The Guardian Australia. He was the recipient of a Brisbane Lord Mayor's Young and Emerging Artists Fellowship (2020), and the State Library of Queensland Young Writers Award (2017). Find him at jonobri.com.