Opening Night Gala

Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

Sami Shah is a multi-award-winning comedian, writer, and journalist, and the curator of OzAsia Festival’s Weekend of Words. He brings his sharp wit and storytelling expertise to explore how humour helps us survive and reshape the stories we inherit.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala

Eora Nations (Sydney), Australia

Sara Haddad is a Lebanese Australian author and editor who has worked in independent and corporate publishing in Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom for over 35 years. She is the author of The Sunbird. A middle-grade reader version will be published in February 2026.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala and Track Changes

Eora Nations (Sydney)

Hasib Hourani is a Lebanese-Palestinian writer, editor, arts worker, and educator living on unceded Gadigal Country. His debut book, rock flight, was released with Giramondo (AU) and Prototype (UK) in 2024, and New Directions (US) in 2025.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala, Owning the Page: Identity and Writing Your Truth and Not Just Pretty Rhymes

Jakarta, Indonesia

Ratih Kumala, an Indonesian writer since 2001, has published eight fiction works including her latest novel, Koloni. She is also a prolific screenwriter, notably adapting her novel Gadis Kretek (Cigarette Girl) into a 2023 Netflix series, which won the Seoul Drama Awards.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala and Writing for Streaming

Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

Cheng Lei is an Australian Chinese journalist with over twenty years of experience. She received the Press Freedom Award from the Australian Press Council in 2024 and was The Australian newspaper's Australian of the Year in 2023. She is currently a presenter and columnist for Sky News Australia.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala and What Will People Say?

Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

Sashi’s award-winning comedy is a commentary on the daily absurdities of language and life – from doors to crows to self-serve checkouts. She also draws on her former life as a refugee lawyer, which started in Perth and took her to Manila, Ankara, Dar es Salaam, Cairo and Bangkok over a decade.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala and Track Changes

Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

Dr Samah Sabawi is an award-winning author, playwright and poet. Her latest memoir has been shortlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize, The Age Book of the Year award and the NSW Literary Awards’ Douglas Stewart Prize. In 2020, Samah’s independent theatre work won the Green Room Award for Best Writing.

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala and Owning the Page: Identity and Writing Your Truth

Naarm (Melbourne), Australia

Grace Yee is the author of Chinese Fish (Giramondo), winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature. Chinese Fish will be published in the UK by Akoya Publishing in 2026. Her second book is Joss: A History (Giramondo).

Appearing in: Opening Night Gala and Not Just Pretty Rhymes