Nurturing Difference - Advocating Change Through Stories

Dr Shireen Morris is a constitutional lawyer, postdoctoral fellow at Melbourne University Law School and a senior adviser to Cape York Institute. She is a regular commentator is tv, radio and print. Shireen is the editor of A Rightful Place: A Roadmap to Recognition (Black Inc) and The Forgotten People: Liberal and Conservative Approaches to Recognising Indigenous Peoples (MUP).

Her new book, Radical Heart (MUP) came out in July.

Katherena Vermette is a Métis writer from Treaty One territory, the heart of the Métis nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  Her first book, North End Love Songs (The Muses Company) won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry in 2013. Her novel, The Break (House of Anansi), was bestseller in Canada and won multiple awards, including, the 2017 Amazon.ca First Novel Award.  Ms. Vermette is also the author of the children's picture book series, The Seven Teachings Stories, and recently published the first book, Pemmican Wars, in the young adult book series, A Girl Called Echo.  Ms Vermette’s second book of poetry, River Woman, will be published in the fall of 2018. Her National Film Board documentary, This River, won the 2017 Canadian Screen Award for Best Short.

Vermette lives with her family in a cranky old house within skipping distance of the temperamental Red River.

Zoya Patel is a writer and editor based in Canberra. She is the Founding Editor of independent feminist journal, Feminartsy, through which she publishes the work of writers from across Australia.  Zoya writes fiction, non-fiction and memoir, and has had her work published in a range of publications including Junkee, Women's Agenda, i-D.co, Right Now, The Canberra Times and more.

Her debut book, No Country Woman: A Memoir of Not Belonging is out now.