Over the past two decades, Australian literature has undergone a quiet but significant transformation. Back then, ‘ethnic’ stories were perhaps more likely to be published if they fit familiar, marketable moulds — light, humorous, or neatly framed as refugee triumphs, More complex explorations of cultural nuance, family tension, identity and lived experience struggled for visibility. Today, those rich, layered works are finally finding the space they deserve.

Join celebrated authors Alice Pung, Maxine Beneba Clarke, and Demet Divaroren as they reflect on how far the industry has come, the barriers that once shaped which stories were seen as “marketable,” and the powerful new voices helping to shape contemporary Australian writing.

Hosted by Bruno Lettieri (Bruno Goes Everywhere)

Free event.
Suitable for ages 16 and up. 

Alice Pung OAM

Alice Pung OAM is an award‑winning Australian writer whose work spans memoir, fiction, young adult and children’s literature. Born in Footscray to Cambodian refugee parents, her writing is shaped by lived experience, migration, class and belonging. Her debut memoir Unpolished Gem was a national bestseller and multiple award finalist, followed by Her Father’s Daughter. Her YA novel Laurinda won the NSW Premier’s Ethel Turner Prize, while her adult novel One Hundred Days was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and optioned for film.

Alice has edited influential anthologies, writes widely for major publications, and is the recipient of the Order of Australia Medal and the Alice Award. 

Maxine Beneba Clarke

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an award-winning author whose work spans fiction, memoir, poetry and children’s literature. She is the author of more than fifteen books, including the acclaimed short story collection Foreign Soil, the bestselling memoir The Hate Race, and the YA verse novel The Patchwork Bike, and her latest release Beautiful Changelings. Her writing has won major honours including the ABIA and Indie Book Awards and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry 

From 2023 to 2025, Maxine was the inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence at the University of Melbourne. Her work is celebrated for its lyricism, social insight and powerful explorations of race, identity and belonging.