Genre Writing and Diaspora

Grace Chan is an Aurealis and Norma K Hemming Award-shortlisted speculative fiction writer. She can’t seem to stop scribbling about brains, minds, space, technology, and identity. Her short fiction can be found in Going Down Swinging, Clarkesworld, Aurealis, and many other places. Her debut novel, Every Version of You, is about staying in love after mind-uploading into virtual reality (Affirm Press, 2022). Grace was born in Malaysia and lives in Melbourne. In her other life, she works as a psychiatrist.

Chloe Gong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, as well as the Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and have been featured in the New York Times, PEOPLE, Forbes and more. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York City, pretending to be a real adult.

Vanessa Len is a Melbourne author and educational editor of Chinese-Malaysian and Maltese heritage. Her first novel, Only a Monster, explores themes of heroism and monstrousness, and has been translated into 11 languages. The sequel, Never a Hero, will be published later this year.

Shelley Parker-Chan is an Asian Australian former international development adviser who worked on human rights, gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights in Southeast Asia. Their historical fantasy novels set in imperial China were Sunday Times and USA Today bestsellers and have been translated into 15 languages. Parker-Chan is a previous winner of the Astounding Award for Best Debut, and the British Fantasy Awards for Best Fantasy Novel and Best Newcomer. They live in Melbourne, Australia.