First Word Address
ABOUT THE SHOW
Brisbane Writers Festival’s 2026 opening speech will be delivered by one of Australia’s most accomplished authors and educators: the Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon writer Debra Dank. Dank’s luminous 2023 memoir, We Come With This Place, won an unprecedented four prizes at the 2024 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, plus the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal; her recent books, Ankami and Terraglossia, delve with lucidity and grace into the vicissitudes of language, loss and living.
At this very special event, you’ll also hear from Brisbane Writers Festival’s 2026 First Nations Cultural Curators, Bruce Pascoe, Samantha Faulkner and Bebe Oliver, from select event sponsors and from Brisbane Writers Festival Artistic Director Jackie Ryan.
Supported by The University of Queensland
PART OF BRISBANE WRITERS FESTIVAL
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon writer, Dr Debra Dank’s first book, We Come with This Place, was awarded a record four out of fourteen NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal as well as several other awards in 2023. She published Terraglossia and Ankami in 2025.
Bruce Pascoe is an Aboriginal farmer and writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children’s literature, based on Yuin Country. His publications have won numerous awards. He is the author of the groundbreaking, bestselling book Dark Emu.
Bebe Oliver is a Bardi Jawi award-winning author, poet and illustrator. Moving across Country, memory and the layered realities of Blak and queer life, his writing celebrates grief, love, identity and survival with a voice both vulnerable and strong. Bebe is the Artistic Director and CEO of Blak & Bright, is a Director of Na Djinang Circus, a Director of National NAIDOC, and is the Deputy Chair of Magabala Books. He lives and works on the unceded lands of the Kulin peoples and approaches story as responsibility and accountability to the strength and presence of Blak voices across Country.
PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES
VENUE
TICKETS
DURATION
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Suitable for all ages
18 months and under free on the knee; all other ages must hold a valid ticket
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon writer, Dr Debra Dank’s first book, We Come with This Place, was awarded a record four out of fourteen NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, the Australian Literature Society (ALS) Gold Medal as well as several other awards in 2023. She published Terraglossia and Ankami in 2025.
Bruce Pascoe is an Aboriginal farmer and writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children’s literature, based on Yuin Country. His publications have won numerous awards. He is the author of the groundbreaking, bestselling book Dark Emu.
Bebe Oliver is a Bardi Jawi award-winning author, poet and illustrator. Moving across Country, memory and the layered realities of Blak and queer life, his writing celebrates grief, love, identity and survival with a voice both vulnerable and strong. Bebe is the Artistic Director and CEO of Blak & Bright, is a Director of Na Djinang Circus, a Director of National NAIDOC, and is the Deputy Chair of Magabala Books. He lives and works on the unceded lands of the Kulin peoples and approaches story as responsibility and accountability to the strength and presence of Blak voices across Country.
