Queer W/Rites

Queer W/Rites- Readings for Newcastle Pride tells our stories, honours our histories and celebrates queer voices that speak to identity, resistance, community and pride.  Join us for an evening of reading and storytelling by some of Australia's best  

Kate Lilley is a queer poet-scholar. Her first book, Versary (Salt, 2002), won the Grace Leven Prize and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Prize. Her second, Ladylike (UWAP, 2012), was also shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Award. Her third, Tilt (Vagabond, 2018), won the Victorian Premier's Prize. She is the editor of Dorothy Hewett Selected Poems (UWAP), Margaret Cavendish: The Blazing World and Other Writings (Penguin Classics), and Best of Australian Poems 2024 (with Shastra Deo). A widely published queer-feminist scholar, Kate was a member of the English Department at the University of Sydney for many years and is now an adjunct Associate Professor.  

Keri Glastonbury is an Associate Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Newcastle. Her poetry collection Newcastle Sonnets was published by Giramondo in 2018, and shortlisted for the 2019 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Poetry. Giramondo published her latest collection 51 Alterities in August 2025. 

David Kelly is an acclaimed queer, Newcastle-based writer, memoirist, and academic with a PhD in Creative Arts. He is the author of three books: Fantastic Street, the critically acclaimed memoir State of Origin (2019), and Host City (2024), which blends queer memoir and alternative history to explore survival and community in Sydney's Darlinghurst during the early years of the HIV/AIDS crisis. State of Origin was one of named a Books of the Year The Sydney Morning Herald by author Helen Garner. In 2021, he was awarded the prestigious Peter Blazey Fellowship for LEOPARD. He was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards in 2025 and has featured at many festivals, including Newcastle Writers Festival and the EnQueer Sydney Queer Writers' Festival 

Trisha Pender 0433446462 trashpandery@gmail.com 

Kalindi Izzard 0427522883 kalindi.izzard@uon.edu.au 

The Shaping Futures Scholarship Fund was established in 2011 to help students most in need.

The $5000 LGBTQIA+ Shaping Futures Scholarship supports LGBTQIA+ students who are managing study alongside other personal circumstances.

Visit: https://donate.newcastle.edu.au/

• Select ‘Other cause for support’

• Select ‘Other’ from the drop-down field

• Use the free text field to write LGBTIQA+ Shaping Futures Scholarship

Do I need a ticket to attend? Yes, this is a free event but seating is limited. Please reserve your seat to guarantee entry.

Is the venue accessible? Yes! Gallery is wheelchair accessible. If you have any specific accessibility needs, please let us know when you reserve your seat or contact Watt Space directly

Can I bring guests? Absolutely! Please reserve seats for each person attending so we can ensure everyone has a place.

What if I can't make it after I've reserved? Please let us know as soon as possible so we can open your seat to others in the community.