Six of Australia’s best emerging literary voices share their work at a special Melbourne Writers Festival edition of The Next Big Thing.

Discover new works and celebrate cutting-edge writing talent at this much-loved readings series from The Wheeler Centre.

Raya Goldtwig reflects on a childhood shaped by the long shadow of World War II in her evocative memoir The World Belongs to Children. In her fearless debut Periodic Bitch, Emma Hardy interrogates menstrual monsters and the culture that created them, drawing on her own experience with premenstrual dysphoric disorder. Journalist Antoun Issa’s Rebirth traces his mother’s journey through love, migration and renewal amid the upheaval of the Lebanese Civil War. Emily Lighezzolo’s Life Drawing is a provocative novel about women’s bodies, sex, autonomy – and the power of the image. Graphic storyteller Soolagna Majumdar shares work from her forthcoming project Food Bird. And Olivia Wood presents her Voiceworks piece, ‘Privilege of a Peaceful Grief’, a meditation on the strange undercurrents flowing beneath suburban family life.

Hosted by Pranati Narayan Visweswaran.

This event may include references to sensitive content. The authors will share relevant content warnings with the audience before their readings.

The Next Big Thing series is generously supported by George and Rosa Morstyn.

Presented in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival

Olivia Wood

The Next Big Thing: Melbourne Writers Festival 2026 Edition