Student Sessions

10am | Text Focus: Namatjira with Derik Lynch & Sophia Marinos

The play, Namatjira, was developed by Big hART and Company B Belvoir as a celebration of the life and legacy of artist Albert Namatjira. It was created through a long-term collaboration with members of the Namatjira family and the play toured Australia from 2010–2012. Sophia Marinos was the Creative Producer on the project and Derik Lynch performed in the show throughout its run. Both join us to share and discuss the collaborative scripting process and the practice of community involvement that is at the heart of all Big hART productions. 

Namatjira is a prescribed English text for the Standard English and EAL/D Close Study of Literature modules.

10am | The Craft of Poetry with Lemn Sissay

Lemn Sissay is one of the most renowned poets of the 21st century, highly sought after for his dynamic live appearances and performances. Following a tumultuous upbringing, Lemn used poetry to express his emotions, publishing his first poetry pamphlet at the age of 17 and his first poetry book at age 21. Having once mused that if aliens arrived on Earth, they would discover more about the human condition from the poets than the politicians, Lemn joins us to discuss his approach to poetry and its power to connect with people and affect change.

11.30am | Text Focus: Unpolished Gem with Alice Pung

Unpolished Gem is a funny, charming, moving and unfailingly honest memoir that tells Alice Pung’s story of her Chinese-Cambodian family pursuing the Australian Dream. Her perspective of three generations – her grandmother’s, her mother’s and her own – presents moments of great humour and moments of acute emotional pain. Alice will share the process she went through to write such a personal story and the responses she has received from it.

Unpolished Gem is a prescribed English text for Standard Module A: Language, Identity and Culture and EAL/D Module A: Texts and Human Experiences.

11.30am | Spotlight on Shakespeare’s Women with Harriet Walter

Dame Harriet Walter is one of Britain’s most esteemed Shakespearean actors, having played most of Shakespeare’s women. She Speaks! is her inventive reimagining of what these oft-sidelined women might have said with supplementary speeches that offer a fresh insight into Shakespeare's work. Dame Harriet will share her approach to crafting them, discussing the silencing of women in Shakespeare’s texts and the joy of unleashing their inner thoughts. This session is appropriate for all students studying Shakespeare, offering a new perspective on a range of his works.

Presented with the support of Bell Shakespeare. 

1pm | Text Focus: Go Back to Where You Came From with Ivan O’Mahoney

Go Back to Where You Came From (produced by Cordell Jigsaw Productions) is an Australian TV documentary series that aired from 2011–2018 on SBS. The series follows two groups of Australians (with differing opinions on Australia’s asylum seeker debate) being taken on a journey in reverse to the one taken by refugees to reach Australia. We are joined by the director of the series, Ivan O’Mahoney, to discuss how and why the series was created and its lasting impact.

Go Back to Where You Came From is a prescribed English text for the Standard, Advanced and English Studies Common Module: Texts and Human Experiences AND EAL/D Module A: Texts and Human Experiences.

1pm | The Craft of Short Fiction with Debra Adelaide & Melanie Cheng

Some consider short fiction more challenging to write than a novel. Certainly, it requires great discipline and precision with language. Whilst existing as its own artform, short fiction can also serve as a training ground for writers before embarking on long-form adventures. To examine the artform in more detail, we are joined by Associate Professor Debra Adelaide, who teaches creative writing at the University of Technology Sydney, and Melanie Cheng, the esteemed author of the short story collection Australia Day.

Associate Professor Debra Adelaide is the author or editor of many books including short story anthologies, novels, nonfiction and reference works. She is a member of the Creative Writing staff of the University of Technology Sydney. Her collection of short fiction, Letter to George Clooney, was short-listed for several literary awards while her most recent collection of short fiction, Zebra, won the Steele Rudd Award for short fiction in the Queensland Literary Awards. Debra has judged several literary awards including the Vogel/Australian award for younger writers, the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the Nita B. Kibble Awards for Women Writers and the Patrick White Award. She is currently Fiction Editor for the literary journal, Southerly.

Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016 and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2018. Room for a Stranger, her highly acclaimed first novel, was published in 2019. Her latest work, The Burrow, was published in 2024.

Derik Lynch is an acclaimed Yankunytjatjara dancer, actor, singer and filmmaker. He studied with the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) at Adelaide University. He has performed around the world, including at the Southbank Theatre in London, Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney and Sydney Opera House. During the London run of Namatjira, Derik was also invited for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II. Derik has performed and acted as cultural advisor for major works and he currently lives in Adelaide, where he works as an artist and education worker.

Sophia has worked with Big hART since 2007 across many projects and as National Producer. Passionate about the capacity of art to spearhead positive social change, this has included work on numerous social impact campaigns on issues as diverse as slavery at sea, Indigenous languages policy, cultural diversity and Indigenous incarceration. Sophia produced the highly successful Namatjira Project beginning in 2009, including its award-winning theatre production, feature documentary, community development project and its legacy project – the Namatjira Legacy Trust.

Ivan O’Mahoney is the founder of In Films, the production company behind projects such as Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story, Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra, The Queen & Zak Grieve, Hitting Home, Revelation and
Folau. Originally a lawyer, his TV career kicked off at CNN following a degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. From the US, he moved to London where he produced and directed documentaries for BBC, Channel 4 and HBO. Notable films include festival favourites Baghdad High and How to Plan a Revolution. His work earned the Robert F Kennedy Journalism Award, a Golden Nymph, a Rose d’Or, and several Walkleys, AACTAs, Screen Producer and Director Guild Awards.

Alice Pung’s first book, Unpolished Gem, is an Australian bestseller which won the Australian Book Industry Newcomer of the Year Award. Alice’s follow up, Her Father’s Daughter, won the Western Australia Premier’s Award for Non-Fiction, while her first YA book novel, Laurinda, won the NSW Premiers Award Ethel Turner Prize in 2016. Alice’s most recent adult novel, One Hundred Days, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and Voss Literary Prize and has recently been optioned to be made into a film by Michelle Law. Alice also edited the collections Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. In 2022 Alice was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for her services to literature.

Lemn Sissay OBE is the Ethiopian-British author of many books of poetry alongside articles, records, broadcasts, public art, commissions and plays. He has been awarded an MBE and an OBE for services to literature, The Pen Pinter Prize and the 2024 Hay medal for poetry. His poetry collections include Let the Light Pour In and Gold from the Stone. He is also the author of the memoir My Name is Why. Lemn was selected as the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics.

Dame Harriet Walter DBE is one of Britain’s most esteemed Shakespearean actors and the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award. Harriet is also well-known for her appearances in Sense and Sensibility, Atonement, Downton Abbey, The Crown, Succession, Killing Eve,
Ted Lasso, among many others. In 2011, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama. She is the author of She Speaks!: What Shakespeare’s Women Might Have Said.