Bright Lights, No City

Sisonke Msimang is the author of Always Another Country: A memoir of exile and home. She is a South African writer whose work is focused on race, gender and democracy. She has written for a range of international publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Newsweek and Al Jazeera.

Susan Midalia is the author of three short story collections, A History of the Beanbag, An Unknown Sky and Feet to the Stars, and a novel, The Art of Persuasion. Her collections have been shortlisted for the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and twice for the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards. She has a PhD in contemporary Australian women’s fiction and has published on the subject in Australian and international literary journals. She retired from academia in 2007 to become a full-time writer, freelance editor and workshop facilitator.

Jay Anderson: ‘I’m a writer and editor, and, as corny—and perhaps as vague—as it sounds, I’d like to make a difference. I spent the majority of my life in Kalgoorlie—a red-dirt town full of miners who are seemingly, more often than not, too-pissed-to-piss-straight. This is where I figured out I was gay. And boy do I have stories to tell about my experiences.’

Holden Sheppard: ‘I am an award-winning author raised in Geraldton, Western Australia, and now based in Perth. My debut YA novel Invisible Boys won the 2018 City of Fremantle T.A.G. Hungerford Award and will be published by Fremantle Press in October 2019. I grew up in a big Sicilian-Australian family, went to Catholic school, and worked odd jobs as a storeman and labourer.’

Laidley Plackett: ‘I’m a regional manager for a retail conglomerate and spend all week mitigating issues with some 250-plus staff and pining after a Friday night G&T. I grew up in Kalgoorlie-Boulder—a mining town in the middle of Bum Fuck, Idaho. Growing up bisexual in a small country town was a cake walk compared to dealing with the fame of winning the Humphrey’s Dance School Salsa competition in 2008.’

Josie Boland: ‘I’m a 23-year-old gay woman. When signing up for this project, I didn’t think I’d have a lot to say about my home town, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, but holy moly guacamole, have I seen some shit.’

Peehi Blake Tahana: ‘I’m a supermarket deli queen most days and a self-taught make-up artist every other day. I’ve spent the last five years of my life in the mining town of Kalgoorlie, and coming out to my friends and family has definitely been a wild ride.’

Jordan Fletcher: ‘To quote Little Britain‘s Daffyd Thomas: “I am a gay.” Moreover, I am a finance and economics student, hilariously mentally ill, and keeping it together enough for roughly ten minutes of awkward anecdotes about growing up gay in the cultural oasis that is Kalgoorlie.’

Damo: ‘I’m a design student, and I have a passion for all things creative. My story sheds light upon some of the difficulties I’ve encountered—bullying, exclusion and discrimination—while also detailing some of the more intimate and empowering moments that I’ve experienced too. I want to inspire other readers with my story, reminding them to embrace their true identity, no matter what, and to treat every life experience—the good and the bad—as an opportunity for self-growth: to further discover aspects about themselves that they never even knew existed.’

Emery Wishart: ‘I’m a young pre-service primary school teacher with a passion for supporting trans and gender diverse community development. I spent my adolescent years in country WA and want to share my experience of coming into my queer identity.’