The Next Big Thing: Hot Desk 2024 Edition #1

Jacinta Dietrich is a neurodivergent and bisexual writer, editor and podcaster based in Naarm, Melbourne. Her first novella, This Is Us Now, was published with Grattan Street Press in 2021. She has also been published in Black Inc.’s Growing Up in Country Australia and the Grattan Street Press Int... Read more

Shashini Gamage is a writer based in Naarm/Melbourne. She is a graduate of the Faber Writing Academy. Her debut novel was long-listed for the 2023 Richell Prize. She has read from her work at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Melbourne. Originally from Sri Lanka, Gamage worked as a journalist and do... Read more

Kate Harris is a writer living and working on Wadawurrung country. Over the years she has written theatre, comedy, fiction and non-fiction. Recently she has focused on literary and speculative fiction looking at trauma and transformation in the lives of women and girls. Her novel in progress, Wake, ... Read more

Ayesha Mona is a writer, actor and model. She grew up in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Brisbane. Her artistic expression draws on all of these experiences and her work centres around de-coloniality and intersectional feminism. She is currently facilitating revolution & femme consciousness raising w... Read more

Al Speers is a writer, musician, and sex worker living on stolen Wurundjeri land in Naarm. Their current focus is on building past and future dystopias that allow them to explore how power is created and maintained.

Stella Theocharides lives in Preston, Naarm. They work as a farmhand, growing veg along the Maribyrnong on unceded Wurundjeri land. Their work has been published in The Suburban Review and Meanjin, and they have edited poetry for Voiceworks for around two years now. They draw comics. ... Read more

Xiaole Zhan (they/them) is a Chinese-New Zealand writer and composer based in Naarm. They are the recipient of the 2024 Kat Muscat Fellowship. They were also the winner of the 2023 Kill Your Darlings Non-Fiction Prize for their autobiographical essay Think An Empty Room, Moonly With Phoneglow explor... Read more

Diem is the Wheeler Centre’s Program Coordinator. She has worked at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Writers Victoria, and the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Gender Studies and a Master of Arts and Cultural Management, both ... Read more