South East Queensland Writers

Alethea Beetson is a Kabi Kabi/Gubbi Gubbi + Wiradjuri storyteller + dreamer who has worked extensively with Indigenous communities across multiple art forms to inspire new works responding to societal issues, cultural heritage and colonisation. Her research explores the function of insurgence and resurgence in the creative development and production of Indigenous performance.

In 2013 Alethea founded Digi Youth Arts (DYA) is an Indigenous led youth arts organisation sharing the stories of our young people. Her tenure at Digi Youth Arts has seen Alethea write and direct the following productions from a community engaged practice: COOKED (2022, QPAC), ANTHRO-APOLOGY (2018, Queensland Museum), Waiting and Searching (2016, Metro Arts), Don't Read The Comments (2016, Metro Arts), in-dij-uh-nus (2015, Brisbane Powerhouse; 2016 Festival of Pacific Arts in Guam; 2018, La Boite Theatre Company), Losing It (2017, La Boite Theatre Company); and direct Restless Dream (2021, Brisbane Festival), The Truth Is (2014, Twelfth Night Theatre) & Glad Tomorrow (2013, Brisbane Powerhouse).

Alethea also adapted and directed Alexis Wright's Carpentaria as an immersive literary performance for Brisbane Writers Festival in 2017 and 2019. In 2021 Alethea adapted one of her theatre works Losing It into a short-film.

She has worked as a First Nations Music Curator and Producer across BLAKSOUND, Brisbane Festival, BIGSOUND, Horizon Festival, Yonder and Jungle Love.

Anisa is a nationally recognised spoken word poet, play writer, educator and published author. She is the 2016 Queensland Poetry slam champion and runner up for the Australian poetry slam championships. She is the Sunshine Coast laughable comedy champion 2020 and won the crowd favourite prize at the good chat comedy club finals 2020. In 2017 she published her first book Melanin Garden and won the XYZ Innovation in Spoken Word Prize. She has performed at the Sydney Opera house, Splendour in the Grass, Queensland Poetry festival, Women of the world festival and toured the country sharing stories of love and courage. Anisa is also the co-founder of the arts collective Voices of Colour which creates spaces for migrant, refugee and first nations artists to share their work.

Loki Liddle is a proud Jabirr Jabirr man and a passionate poet, musician and Creative Producer for Digi Youth Arts. Perhaps more accurately referred to as a playful storyteller and a bit of a strange child with a will to be weird and a way to be made.

Chelsea Watego is a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman born and raised on Yuggera country. First trained as an Aboriginal health worker, she is an Indigenist health humanities scholar, prolific writer and public intellectual. When not referred to as 'Vern and Elaine's baby', she is also Kihi, Maya, Eliakim, Vernon and George's mum.