Queerstories 2025

Joanna Lamb (she/her) is a writer, coach, community activist and senior project manager who has managed events and projects in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and across Europe and the former Soviet states.

She is the Director and Co-founder of EnQueer – Sydney Queer Writers’ Festival and is passionate about authentic queer representation in literature and film. She is also a certified yoga teacher, a member of Bentstix Hockey Club and proud co-parent to Sushi the miniature dachshund.

Winnie Dunn is Tongan-Australian writer from Mount Druitt. She is the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the editor of several critically acclaimed anthologies including Sweatshop Women (2019) and Another Australia (2022).

Winnie’s debut novel is Dirt Poor Islanders (Hachette, 2024).

Nancy Denis is a multidisciplinary artist. She has worked across stage, television and film including roles in Belvoir’s Sami In Paradise, directed by Eamon Flack, STC’s Blithe Spirit directed by Paige Rattray and A Raisin In The Sun, directed by Wesley Enoch, ABC’s Cleverman, Netflix’s 600 Bottles of Wine, TikTok’s series Krystal Klairvoyant, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, and Truth directed by James Vanderbilt.

She has performed in Utp’s Home Country and Right Here Right Now festival and will be playing Clyde in Ensemble Theatres Clydes in 2023. Ma’p Boulé is Nancy’s first solo show which debuted in December 2022. You can also keep up with Nancy on her YouTube channel The Nancy Denis Show where she interviews a variety of local Australian guests and musical acts. Nancy continues to work and grow within the arts expanding into visual arts and was an artist residency with Red Rattler Theatre in 2023.

Dylin Hardcastle (they/them) is an award-winning author, artist, screenwriter and scholar based on Gadigal Land. Dylin’s novel, A Language of Limbs won the 2023 Kathleen Mitchell Literary Award, presented by the Australia Council for the Arts. The novel was released in July 2024 in Australia and New Zealand by Picador, and is slated for publication in 2025 with Dutton (Penguin Random House) in North America, Verve Books in the United Kingdom and Amorf Kitap in Türkiye. Dylin’s 2020 novel, Below Deck was published in ten territories and translated into eight languages.

It was reviewed to critical acclaim in publications such as Le Monde (France), Zeit (Germany), and The Guardian and the Australian Book Review. Dylin’s memoir, Running like China is published by Hachette and was released in September 2015. Dylin’s debut novel for young adults, Breathing Under Water is also published by Hachette and was released in July 2016. Bolinda Audio published both books as audio books.

Andrew Wiltshire is a Deaf Drag Queen performer, storyteller, and advocate for the Deaf community. Known for his alter ego, Mademoiselle Coco, Andrew has performed at events like Mardi Gras 2021 and has a knack for bringing people together through his work in the Deaf sector.

When not managing community programs or creating in his sewing room, Andrew enjoys sharing stories, painting, and good company.

Nico Bruni is a first-gen Italo-Australian multi-disciplinary performance artist, host and dancer from Western Sydney, best known for his enthralling drag persona, Nico La Diva. He studied dance at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne where he developed his unique flowing improvisational movement style. Nico’s dynamic career has seen him collaborate with renowned creative innovators, performing at prestigious events such as The Sydney Biennale, The National, Falls Festival, Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Sydney Writers’ Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras, World Pride, and more. Nico has also completed a Communications and Media degree at Western Sydney University, majoring in Screen Media.

He now intends to pull from his experience working in the film production industry to enhance his storytelling capacities as a creative and artist, with a particular focus on exploring the experience of growing up queer in a traditional southern Italian household in south-west Sydney.