Curators
In 2025 BWF has had the great fortune of working with First Nations Cultural Curators Sharlene Allsopp and Jillian Bowie, who’ve put together a series of sessions that complement and enhance the program. You’ll find a curator credit next to each of the sessions they’ve created; we hope you enjoy the breadth and depth these panels bring to the festival. BWF would like to extend a huge thank you to Sharlene and Jillian for their illuminating and exciting contributions.
#Sharlene Allsopp
Aboriginal First Nations Curator
Biography
Sharlene Allsopp was born on Bundjalung Country into the Olive mob. She has been published widely, including in Griffith Review, Portside Review, and Aniko Press. She was the University of QLD’s Ford Memorial Poet of the Year in 2021. Her debut novel 'The Great Undoing', released with Ultimo Press, won the QLD Literary Awards Fiction Book of the Year 2024. She is currently working and studying at the University of QLD and developing her next novel. Sharlene lives in Meanjin/Brisbane with her family and her beloved doggo—Morty.
Curatorial Statement
In curating these sessions, I focus on the stories held by place. When human beings are silenced, when stories are misrepresented or selective voices are elevated, let's remember that humans are not the only keepers and tellers of story. Place is the original storyteller.
Place witnesses and holds stories without hierarchy. How does place hold and tell story? What power do stories held in place have? How does storytelling materially change us and the world we live in? In times of great despair and fear of losing agency, can stories imbue the present with the power to create alternative futures? These sessions ask authors about the way they honour the agency of place in their work and how place shapes and reshapes their past, present and future.
#Jillian Bowie
Zenadth Kes (Torres Strait) Islander First Nations Curator
Biography
Jillian is a Zenadth Kes woman from the Samsep and Zagareb tribes of Erub and Mer.
Jillian’s first book 'Bakir and Bi' was a winner at the 2012 Black&write! Fellowship competition with State Library Queensland. Published by Magabala Books, 'Bakir and Bi' achieved international acclaim when it was chosen for the White Raven’s Catalogue produced by the International Youth Library in Germany, and went on to be displayed at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy, 2014. The sequel to 'Bakir and Bi', 'Bid Buai — Dolphin People' was published in March 2021 by Balboa Press accompanying the reprint of 'Bakir and Bi'.
Jillian’s poetry was highly commended by Judges of the 2018 Oodgeroo Noonuccal Poetry Prize, published in Overland Journal Magazine and Borderless Transnational Feminist Australian Anthology.
In May 2025, Jillian debuted as a playwright when her play 'The Boy Who Found His Way Home' premiered at Gab Titui Cultural Centre on Waibene with outstanding reviews.
Curatorial Statement: Writing Blak
First Nations peoples are the original storytellers of these ancient lands. Our stories matter because Blak stories survive us. They carry the power to plant, build and align our narratives through generations, as we interpret ourselves through our stories, dance, song, language and Ailan Kastom (island custom) to pass on ancient knowledges of identity, culture, shared values, beliefs and social structures.
The womb is our first country, where we are formed and knitted into our bloodlines and where we connect to the spirit of our lands, seas, skies and waterways. Beyond today’s systems and structures, we find our breath and purpose, as we write to influence opinions and for our own perpetuity.
Writing for social change matters. We write to make a difference in the world through multiple genres and platforms to engage and enrich the minds and hearts of those willing to listen, learn and enjoy the journey with us.
We welcome you into our world of writing for creative expression through music, dance, theatre and comedy.