Australia is more plural than its bookshelves have ever suggested. The writers in this room know that — and they wrote anyway.

Our Stories, Our Voices brings together writers and storytellers who identify as BIPOC for 90 minutes of conversation, craft and community. It is built around a simple idea: that hearing from writers who have navigated a complex cultural landscape — and made something worth reading from it — is both practical and necessary. Not a lecture. Not a panel of grievances. A room full of people who already understand each other’s starting point, learning from those who are further along the path.

Who is this event for? In the Australian context, BIPOC includes Black, Indigenous, and all People of Colour — writers from African, Middle Eastern, North African, South Asian, East Asian, Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, and all other non-European backgrounds, and those of mixed heritage. Our use of these terms is grounded in the Australian lived experience of racialisation, not imported US demographic categories. If this description speaks to your experience, this event is for you.

What to expect

Melissa Cranenburgh moderates a panel with Maxine Beneba Clarke, John Morrissey and special guests — writers whose work reflects the cultural plurality of contemporary Australia. The conversation will move through their origins as writers, their experience of the publishing landscape, and what continues to sustain them. No two journeys look the same; that is the point.

The panel is followed by a facilitated writing workshop, with prompts drawn directly from the conversation. You are not required to share what you write. You are not required to speak. You are welcome to listen, observe, and take what is useful.

Attendees will also have the opportunity to register their interest in the WOW BIPOC Writers Collective — a new, ongoing community for BIPOC writers in Melbourne’s west, with future writers’ cafés, peer workshops and author talks to come.

For the workshop, please bring the writing aid or materials you prefer to work with

Format

• Welcome, Acknowledgement of Country & access check-in, introduction — 15 minutes

• Panel discussion — 45 minutes

• Facilitated writing workshop — 30 minutes

Moderator & Facilitator: Melissa Cranenburgh

Panellists: Maxine Beneba Clarke, John Morrisey, and special guests to be announced

Presented by Williamstown Literary Festival & Writers Out West

Cost Pay what you feel — free or $15. No one turned away.

This is a culturally safe, trauma-informed space. We are neurodivergent-aware. If you have specific access requirements, please contact the festival team in advance.

Contact the host of Our Stories, Our Voices: A Workshop for BIPOC Writers