The Wheeler Centre’s Hot Desk Fellowships are wrapping up for 2022, and in this instalment of our ever-popular Next Big Thing series, we’re showcasing writers from the third intake of fellows. Grab a drink from the Moat bar and be the first to hear excerpts from these exciting projects-in-progress. Featuring Julie Dickson, Leila Lois, Maki Morita, Olivia Muscat, Amarachi Okorom, Arty Owens, Christy Tan and Mason Wood, these works – ranging from creative non-fiction to fiction, poetry and screenplay – have all been refined over the writers’ ten-week fellowships.
The Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowships are supported by the Readings Foundation and Just Pretending theatre group.
The Next Big Thing takes place every month at the Moat and is a cherished Melbourne institution. It’s the place to be if you want to hear great emerging writers read from new and adventurous work.
Wheelchair accessible
Accessible toilets available
Julie Dickson is a writer and editor based in Naarm (Melbourne). She enjoys reading and writing contemporary young adult novels and free verse poetry. Following her passion, she completed a Bachelor of Arts (Professional and Creative Writing) at Deakin University ...
Leila Lois is a dancer and writer. She writes articles and dance reviews for The Age, ArtsHub and Delving into Dance. She is also a published poet in various journals including Cordite Poetry and Southerly Journal. Her debut chapbook ...
Maki Morita is a writer and performance-maker living and working on unceded Wurundjeri country. Maki is currently working on a live art piece to be exhibited at Linden New Art and is remounting her play Trash Pop Butterflies ...
Olivia Muscat writes about disability, the arts and random things that pop into her head. Her writing features in the anthologies Meet Me at the Intersection, Women of a Certain Rage, and Growing Up Disabled in Australia. She writes ...
Amarachi Okorom is an Igbo Nigerian-born actor, spoken word poet and playwright who grew up in Auckland and is now based in Naarm/Melbourne. Amarachi joined Western Edge in 2017, performing in Caliban as part of the ...
Christy Tan has been published in Cordite Poetry Review, The Suburban Review, Australian Poetry’s Tell Me Like you Mean It, Runway Journal, Going Down Swinging, Peril Magazine, and elsewhere. She has performed at the ...
Diem is the Wheeler Centre’s Program Coordinator. She has worked at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Writers Victoria, and the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) ...