Trans and Gender Diverse Creativity – Beyond the Gatekeepers. Jasper Peach and Liz Duck-Chong with Erin Riley
Description
In a climate of looming and re-ignited anti-transness, how do trans and gender diverse creators not only survive, but make space, build things and thrive? A conversation on hope, inspiration and action.
Join Jasper Peach (they/them) – a trans, non-binary and disabled writer, parent and author of My Body Is My Home – and Liz Duck-Chong (she/her) – writer, filmmaker, musician, transgender advocate and a woodworker who runs workshops supporting women, queers and anyone to discover what they're capable of building. Curated and moderated by Erin Riley (they/them), a social worker and writer.
This conversation weaves together threads of community care, mutual aid, disability justice, connection to the natural world, and questions what success and creativity looks like outside traditional systems. How to tell trans and gender diverse stories when the mainstream won't greenlight you? Make stuff yourself. Expect fierce honesty, laughter, and a vision of creativity that makes its own way.
Supported by Pride Foundation Australia Small Grant.
This Town Hall Talks session is Auslan interpreted.
Lineup
Meet Jasper
Jasper Peach is a trans, non-binary and disabled author. They are passionate about equity and inclusion, playing with dismantling misplaced shame across written word, visual and audio mediums. Their first book, You’ll Be a Wonderful Parent (2023) was a groundbreaking and accessible parenting resource for rainbow families of all kinds. My Body is My Home (2026) is a picture storybook for young readers, illustrated by beloved Naarm artist Beci Orpin. Published in The Guardian, The Australian Poetry Journal, The Big Issue, Powerd Media, SBS and ABC online, Jasper loves writing for all audiences. Currently working on a mosaic memoir, A Thousand Spinning Plates on Fire, Peach explores the intersections of queer, disabled, fat bodied, transgender, parent, non-binary, neurodivergent and activist identities. This work is presented in prose, poetry and visual forms. Jasper can usually be found in the beautiful chaos of life with their partner, children and pets.
Meet Liz
Liz is a writer, musician and carpenter who is curious about a range of mediums and styles, in classic non-committal style. Her writing mostly focuses on queer lives, the natural world, relationships, bodies, and non-monogamies, and ways of living in the world today.
Meet Erin
Erin Riley is a writer and social worker currently living in Lutruwita. Their debut collection of essays, A Real Piece of Work was published in 2023. They have been published in Island Magazine, Splinter Magazine, Archer Magazine and Kill Your Darlings. Erin's essay on making bread and burnout was featured in the UQP Anthology by Autistic writers, Someone Like Me, published in 2025. Erin spent 2025 WWOOFing, recovering from burnout and writing about it.
Books
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