Meet the players in our Science vs Romance event

This Melbourne Writers Festival we are bringing together a quartet of creators to use each other's discipline as a source of inspiration. Poets Raelee Lancaster and Kirli Saunders collaborate with astrophysicists Krystal de Napoli and Karlie Noon to present creative, genre-defying responses born from where science and art collide. Before you pick your team, get to know the players in the game of Science vs Romance by reading, watching and listening to some of their fine work.

Raelee Lancaster is a Brisbane-based writer, collaborator and creative producer. Raelee was a recipient of a Copyright Agency First Nations Fellowship 2019 and was awarded first place for the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers in 2018. Her writing has featured in Cordite Poetry Review, The Guardian, Overland, The Lifted Brow, and more. Raised on Awabakal land, Raelee is descended from the Wiradjuri and Biripi peoples. 

Read: 2018 Overland Nakata Brophy award-winning poem
Listen: I love my Stardew Valley girlfriends

Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai Woman and  award-winning international Children’s Author and Poet as well as a Teacher, and emerging Artist. She leads Poetry in First Languages, delivered by Red Room Poetry. Her debut picture book The Incredible Freedom Machines was shortlisted for the Prime Ministers Literary Awards and CBCA notables. Her poetry collection, Kindred was shortlisted for the ABIA 2020 Book Awards and FAB Booktopia Awards. She is the inaugural winner of the Daisy Utemorrah Award and University of Canberra ATSI Poetry prize (2019). Kirli is an esteemed judge for the Val Vallis Award and Prime Minister's Poetry Award. Kirli is the 2020 NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year. 

Watch: Truth speaking, decolonising and First Nations languages
Read: Mother

Karlie Noon is a Gamilaray astrophysicst who is passionate about Indigenous astronomical knowledge and communicating science to those from a disadvantaged background. She was the first Indigenous female to obtain degrees in physics and mathematics which were completed at the University of Newcastle in 2016. She has since completed a masters degree in astrophysics at the Australian National University in 2019. Karlie was an ACT Young Australian of the Year 2019 finalist and a Eureka Prize Emerging Leader 2019 finalist.

Listen: Astrophiz Astronomy Podcast
Watch: Karlie on ABC’s The Drum, February 2020

Krystal de Napoli is a Kamilaroi woman and astrophysics student at Monash University in Melbourne. Through her writing and public speaking she advocates for Indigenous sciences and astronomy practices, writing about her own research and the role it plays in wider cultural conversations. She is the recent winner of the Monash University Faculty of Science 2020 Science Communication Award.

Read: Indigenous astronomy to revive the Australian curriculum
Listen: 65,000+ years of Indigenous astronomy

Raelee Lancaster, photo by Josh Martoo

Kirli Saunders

Karlie Noon

Krystal de Napoli, Image by Ross Calia

Tune in to Science vs Romance on Thursday 13 August, 8-9pm. Free to attend but bookings recommended!