Association for the Study of Australian Literature Annual Conference - Brisbane, July 2026

I’m very grateful to the Association for the Study of Australian Literature  and the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund for the 2026 Writer’s Fellowship, the culmination of which was the ASAL annual conference hosted by the University of Queensland in Brisbane last week. The theme was ‘Australian Literature in the Digital Age’ and there were so many interesting sessions on all aspects of this topic.

At the conference I was privileged to be on a panel convened by Professor Tanya Dalziell, President of ASAL with the other fellowship winner, writer Shannon Benton. In our presentation, I read extracts from Matia and spoke about some of the Greek-Australian texts I’ve been focused on during the fellowship including works by Antigone Kefala and Fotini Epanomitis. I was intrigued to hear about Shannon’s reimagining of Picnic by Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay.

It was also wonderful to catch up with Professor Porscha Fermanis from University College Dublin and hear her inspirational 2026 S.W. Brooks Fellow Lecture.Thanks to ASAL, the Copyright Agency, UQ and everyone who made it such an interesting event to be a part of.

I look forward to meeting you all again and continuing to participate in the creation and reading of Australian literature.