Event #50

First Stories Collective

Fri 9 Oct 2026

Melissa Lucashenko + Anita Heiss + Lenora Thaker + Bebe Oliver

Fairfax Studio

Regular Program / Free Event

#Performances

Fri 9 Oct 2026 - 5:00pm

Fairfax Studio

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#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

First Stories Collective

Melissa Lucashenko, Anita Heiss, Lenora Thaker.
Chair: Bebe Oliver
5–6pm, Friday 9 October, Fairfax Studio

What does the future of storytelling look like when First Nations voices lead the conversation? This panel explores cultural authority, publishing, readership, literary infrastructure and the power of stories within public memory and national identity. Bringing together leading First Nations writers, the discussion will examine the opportunities and tensions facing the sector, and what it’ll take to build a thriving and self-determined literary future for generations to come.

Curated by Bebe Oliver

#Artists

Melissa Lucashenko

Melissa Lucashenko is a multi-award-winning novelist from the Bundjalung nation. Too Much Lip won the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award and Edenglassie was released to critical acclaim in 2023. She is a Walkley Award winner, and her latest book is the essay collection Not Quite White in the Head.

Anita Heiss

Anita Heiss (Wiradyuri Nation) is an internationally published author of over 20 books. Her best-selling novel Tiddas was adapted for the stage and premiered at the Brisbane Festival in 2022. She is Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland and her latest novel is The Paradise Pact.

Lenora Thaker

Lenora Thaker is a proud Meriam and Wagedagam woman born and raised on Gimuy-Walubarra Yidinji country in Far North Queensland. She is a descendant of the Torres Strait Islanders of Cairns Malaytown (a swampland shantytown that existed from the late 1800s to the early 1950s), who are the inspiration for this story. Lenora Thaker received the Boundless Mentorship for The Pearl of Tagai Town.

Bebe Oliver

Bebe Oliver is a Bardi Jawi award-winning author, poet and illustrator. Moving across Country, memory and the layered realities of Blak and queer life, his writing celebrates grief, love, identity and survival with a voice both vulnerable and strong. Bebe is the Artistic Director and CEO of Blak & Bright, is a Director of Na Djinang Circus, a Director of National NAIDOC, and is the Deputy Chair of Magabala Books. He lives and works on the unceded lands of the Kulin peoples and approaches story as responsibility and accountability to the strength and presence of Blak voices across Country.