Courage & Reinvention

Robin Bailey is one of Australia's longest serving continuous commercial radio personalities. The Brisbane media star and 35-year radio veteran began her career as a journalist in Sydney and has worked in in print, TV, radio and podcasting.

Don Watson is the author of many acclaimed books, as well as three Quarterly Essays on American culture and politics. His latest book is The Shortest History of the United States of America.

Grantlee Kieza OAM is an award-winning journalist and Australia’s No. 1 bestselling historical biographer with more than twenty highly acclaimed books. He is a Walkley Award finalist, an ABIA shortlisted author for biography, and an Indie Award and Age Book of the Year shortlisted author.

Majeda Awawdeh is a mathematician and a mathematics lover, an academic, entrepreneur and advocate for women’s education. Born in the turbulent region of ‘1948 Palestine’, she is one of two million Palestinians who lived within Israel, navigating a complex identity under occupation. As a teenager, she experienced the rise of Islamic conservatism, shaping her early life and family dynamics. Majeda’s path has been extraordinary. In 2005, she received a scholarship to study a PhD in Mathematics Education and Cognitive Load Theory at UNSW, a pivotal moment that led her to Australia, and enabled her to escape an abusive marriage and pursue a life of independence. While completing her studies, Majeda raised three children and worked multiple jobs, demonstrating remarkable resilience. Following her academic career, she founded a business applying her research findings, and self-published 98 academic. Her entrepreneurial achievements have been recognised with the Telstra Businesswomen’s Award for Small Business in NSW. Majeda’s memoir, The Sky is Concave, offers a compelling story about defeating (she does not use the word surviving) domestic violence, reclaiming her voice, and navigating cultural and political challenges as a Palestinian woman in Israel and later in Australia. Written through the lens of the language of the universe, Majeda uncovers the deep beauty of mathematics.

Melanie Myers is an award-winning writer, editor and researcher. Her latest book is a guide to writing historical biofiction (TPB Routledge, 2026). Her first historical novel Meet Me at Lennon’s (2019) was published after she won the Glendower Award for an Emerging Writing. Her current WIP is an historical biofiction about the filmmaking McDonagh sisters. Her essays and other publications can be found at melaniemyers.com.