The Offering

Omar Musa is an author, visual artist, and poet from Queanbeyan, Australia, who has received international acclaim for his work. His new novel, Fierceland, will be published by Penguin Random House Australia in September 2025. His debut novel, Here Come the Dogs, was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Miles Franklin Award, and he was named one of The Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015. He has also released four books of poetry (including Killernova), five hip-hop records, and an award-winning one-man play, Since Ali Died. His work has appeared in The Best Australian Stories and Best of Australian Poems.

Mariel Roberts is an American cellist and composer widely recognised not just for her virtuosic performances, but also as a “fearless explorer” in her field (Chicago Reader). Her deep commitment to collaboration and experimentation - as an interpreter, improviser, and composer - has helped create a body of work that bridges avant-garde, contemporary classical, improvised, and traditional music. Roberts is acclaimed for her “technical and interpretive mastery” (I Care If You Listen) and for performances that seethe with “excruciating intensity” (The Whole Note). She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across four continents, most notably as a member and co-director of the Wet Ink Ensemble (named “The Best Classical Music Ensemble of 2018” by The New York Times), as well as with the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Mivos Quartet, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and Ensemble Signal.