WRITERS

Ranjini Ganapathy is a Meanjin-based creative arts educator who offers language and movement lessons through a multi-modal approach. She employs oral storytelling, language education, and Bharatanatyam as teaching strategies to explore elements of a narrative. A storyteller at heart, she is intrigued by how stories from the past taunt, shape, and serve us.

A former History and Social Studies teacher equipped with a Bachelor's degree in European Studies from the National University of Singapore (NUS), she is informed by her training to acknowledge and challenge reductive assessments of global and social issues through critical inquiry. She obtained her CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults) from the Institute of Continuing & TESOL Education at the University of Queensland (ICTE-UQ).

A disciple of the late Cultural Medallion Award Recipient, Smt. Neila Sathyalingam, she was a former company dancer of Apsaras Arts Dance Company having represented Singapore in various arts festivals in Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia and the UK.

Kathryn Collins (she/her) is a Meanjin-based writer, director, and creative. Having graduated from UQ with a BA in Drama and Writing in 2023, she has returned to her studies this year to complete a practice-based Honours project in Drama (Directing). Outside her formal studies, she has been featured as a playwright and director in Underground Theatre’s Short Play Festival, and as a director in La Boite Theatre’s Assembly Program. Kathryn is an avid reader and theatre consumer with a passion for visual metaphor and queer/feminist revision. She is endlessly intrigued by the weird things in our heads, the words we do and don't say, and the beauty and darkness co-existing in the spaces between people.

She was born in bewitching Cape Town, South Africa pre the dismantling of apartheid. In 1980, Charmaine Idris emigrated to Australia (solo) where she embarked on a much anticipated journey of self-discovery and inner reflection. Melbourne became her watering-hole where she later embraced marriage whilst juggling motherhood and an established career. In 1994, the (then) family relocated to the city of the historic Petronas Twin Towers aka Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Nearly three years after her arrival in Malaysia, Charmaine was stabbed in a basement car park. The brutal attack resulted in paraplegia. This major turning point in her life greatly influenced her first play ""From Table Mountain to Teluk Intan"" which was staged in 2000 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then again at the New York Fringe Festival in 2002. Writing the play proved to be cathartic in that it allowed Charmaine to come to terms with the challenges of being a paraplegic.

In 2007, Charmaine relocated back to Australia.

Given her passion for living life to the fullest, Charmaine believes in nurturing the mind, body and spirit so you'll find her pumping iron at her local gym, swimming to infinity at several pools around Brisbane, checking out the latest in theatre and on the visual art scene, spending time in dark cinemas, and never, never leaves home without a book. Charmaine is continuously nurturing her journey of self-discovery armed with wisdom, insight, patience, humility and gratitude to guide her."

Triss Niemi (she/her) is a Meanjin-based poet, playwright, dramaturg, and a PhD candidate at Flinders University. Her creative and academic work focuses on the development of trauma-informed performance making, the nurturing of marginalised audiences, and the reclamation of Queer stories.

Triss' recent work saw her be one of 36 writers featured in Lunch Friend's award winning 34 Scenes about the Weather and one of nine featured in LaBoite's Assembly '22 program. She has also taken on the roles of artistic director and in-house dramaturg for emerging Queer production company Flaming Carnations. Triss' poetry and short stories have been published by GEMS Zine, Riot Collective, and QUT Glass.

Triss holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drama) from the Queensland University of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts (Drama) with First Class Honours from the University of Queensland.

BB le Buff is known as one of Brisbane’s premier burlesque showgirls, a teacher and show producer. She has a passion for performing Burlesque, Vintage Dance, Circus and Sideshow acts. BB is the Headmistress at her School of Performance; Brisbane’s longest running Burlesque & Variety school, which is shimmying its way into its 14th year of operation.She started her dance training at the tender age of 3 and has taken part in many stage productions, musicals and performance art installations across Australia. Studying dance as a theoretical art form and armed with a devotion for all performing arts and its history; she is ready to flex her critical thinking muscles. BB can’t wait to be challenged by all the incredible performance art being created in and around our wonderfully weird river city.

Gloriana is a Brisbane-based artist, actress, musician, and dancer. She has a passion for the arts and has performed from a very an early age. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film, TV, Media Production & Drama from QUT, she has been involved in several production projects. In addition to telling and hearing compelling stories, she enjoys expressing herself physically and emotionally through various art mediums, which ultimately enables her to connect with others and the world. She has a vivid imagination and often finds inspiration wherever she goes.

Darcie Rae is a Gold Coast based circus artist who ends up spending an awful lot of time in Brisbane spending an irresponsible percentage of her income on seeing live performances. Darcie is an aerialist who produces circus works under the name Glitter Martini, and loves art that is inviting to the everyday person. She is drawn to all things circus and cabaret, and is intrigued by performances in usual spaces.

Ofa Fanaika, love song writer turn critic, provides unique perspective on the underrepresented viewpoints of theater audiences. As a queer Pasifika artist, Ofa writes to amplify diverse voices and interpretations of the arts at the community level.

Katie is a Meanjin based producer and artist who works across photography, installation work, curating and producing. In her own work she likes to explore themes of Pacific Futurism, fat acceptance and resistance to assimilation. After completing a bachelor degree in Film and Screen Media Production Katie is enjoying sinking her teeth into every kind of story telling that Brisbane has to offer. She loves immersive narratives and spectacular space/site designs.

Originally from the UK, Brisbane is now home—which means that Catherine admits to missing family, friends, European travel, and UK theatre (in particular the quality and quantity of productions, and of performance spaces). A serial volunteer, she is a long-standing Anywhere Festival reviewer and can also be found on Geoff’s Creative Futures website (perspectives reviews, often written when carrying Geoff’s photography bag to events).

Always interested in established theatre, seeks out opportunities to see new local and international work. A supporter of new performers and productions, she seeks out most theatre, circus, cabaret, contemporary dance, Indigenous performances, and… well... just about anything (usually except for opera).

A Meanjin-based producer, stage manager, and creative, Kian is the co-founder of emerging theatre collective, T!TS AKIMBO, and was the co-producer, co-writer and co-director of multi-award winning 'The Politics of Vodka Lime Soda' at the 2022 Anywhere Festival. In 2021, she graduated from QUT's BFA (Drama) degree, and was the General Manager for student-company Vena Cava Productions. Now a freelance writer for Nothing Ever Happens in Brisbane, Kian has worked across companies such as Metro Arts, QPAC, Broad Encounters, Folly Games and Brisbane Festival, in a variety of production roles.

Georgia is a recent graduate of the University of Queensland's Arts undergraduate program. She is currently completing post-graduate practice led research at the University of Queensland in Theatre Directing. Her thesis explores a bricolage of site-specific performance, feminist, affect, and Greek re-vision theories to examine the role that performance space has in feminist directing strategies.

Georgia is an experienced vocalist, performing in a variety of professional music groups, including The 8-Tracks and Art Deco Orchestra. Currently, she is working on two passion projects: a funk collective and her first solo EP.

Georgia has a colossal love of Greek Mythology, cows, and tea. She has a deep dislike of sand, misogyny, and writing bios.

Kristy holds a Bachelor in Languages and Linguistics and generally loves all things wordy.

She has been active in the folk and world music scenes since her early twenties when she took up the accordion in a moment of poor judgment. These days she can be found playing both solo and with bands Zumpa and Úna Heera, but over the years has performed throughout the east coast in collaboration with various music, theatre, and circus artists. She has also worked as an ESL teacher and currently writes for Segmento magazine.

Kristy has a soft spot for the dark, the funny, the queer; any and all art that explores the challenges and ubiquities of the human condition.

Jaydem is a First Nations writer born in Wellington, New South Wales. He is part of the Wiradjuri Nation and is the great grandson of Wiradjuri elder and Aboriginal activist, Aunty Joyce Williams, who also raised him since he was a child. Jaydem has had multiple poems published in the past as well as various sports articles that touch on Indigenous and Disability issues. He enjoys working on electronic music in his spare time and has a love for the weird and the alternative when it comes to art.

Harmonie is a creative consultant working in the Creative Industries and community and disability sectors. Harmonie specialises in inclusive and accessible arts practice, events and business strategy for artists.

She has worked as a ceramic artist in her own practise, as an artworker, as a touring musician and ensemble facilitator, booking agent, mentor and marketer for creatives, festival director, producer and stage manager for large scale complex festivals, small to medium events and major performing arts venues across the country, a grant assessor for organisations and is on a couple of boards and steering committees.