RANIA
Rania is an emerging writer, poet and artist from Western Sydney. Her art often refl ects on her lived experiences of mental illness and disability as well as culture and social commentary. Rania has performed her poetry at many events including Bankstown poetry slam, Fairfield poetry slam (Grand Slam Second place), Liverpool City Council’s Youth Conference, Harmonity’s Immersiva event, the MiyaMiya Film Club Gadigal to Gaza event, and the Spark youth hub launch.
Kid Pharaoh
Kid Pharaoh is an Egyptian-Australian rapper and producer known for his sharp lyricism, bold production, and powerful live shows.
Featured on ABC, SBS, triple j, and Paramount+, his live performance was described by Rolling Stone as “aggressive, hard-hitting, and smart,” and “one of the most polished rap shows [they’ve] seen in recent years.”
Mây Trần
Mây Trần is Western Sydney based theatre-maker, problematic Gen Z homosexual, and retired Woolworths employee of Vietnamese descent. Their credits include
Cleansed (Old Fitz Theatre, 2022), Hot Mess (KXT, 2021), R+J RMX (Opera House, 2021) and PLAYLIST (PYT, Opera House, 2019). Their work reflects their passion for the radicalisation and celebration of queer, POC and disabled communities
They are currently working on their first solo work, Evil Autism.
DEFNE
DEFNE is a queer and neurodivergent Turkish-Australian multidisciplinary artist. She is the Creative Director and Host of West Side Poetry, a hybrid slam in Parramatta and online. DEFNE has featured at State Library & Art Gallery NSW, Story Week, Adelaide Writers’ Week, and more. Her team won bronze at the Bankstown Grand Slam at the Sydney Opera House. She performed her poetry and song show, “DEFNE Opens Up”, at Flight Path Theatre, and her play, “Stomach It” through OutLoud. DEFNE graduated with distinction in Creative Writing, Theatre, Photography & Graphic Design. The world’s her runway, she overruns with shared vulnerability and revolutionary intimacy.
Dilroop Khangura
Dilroop Khangura is an emerging writer from Western Sydney passionate about exploring comedy. She was selected for Australian Theatre for Young People’s (ATYP) National Studio in 2022, where her debut short play How to Kill Your Grandma was chosen for ATYP’s Intersection 2023. That same year, she joined ATYP’s Yungstr program to develop her satirical writing. Additionally, in 2021 she completed Home and Away’s Equity Graduate Internship, gaining hands-on experience in screenwriting and television production. Dilroop is driven by a love of storytelling and hopes to keep learning and collaborating with talented artists to create bold, impactful new work.
Nickin Alexander
Born in Penrith to Indian migrant parents, Nickin Alexander is a fi rst-generation, Australian-born Actor and writer whose family hails from Kerala, India. Nickin grew up skating, graffi tiing, playing backyard sports and generally causing a ruckus during the
week. On weekends, he attended Malayalam classes and Indian functions, where he was fi rst introduced to the stage. Nickin’s love for acting and poetry has infl uenced his work, and he has since delved into spoken word as a way to blend performance and storytelling. His love for poetic performance, acting, his culture, his family, friends and being from “The Area” have all infl uenced his craft to this day, something he takes pride in representing.
Aliyah Knight
Aliyah is a Black and queer storyteller working on unceded Gadigal and Wangal land. They write about cannibals, Catholic guilt and killer vampire girlbands, telling stories where the personal meets political through horror and humour. Aliyah’s debut play SNAKEFACE premiered at Belvoir Downstairs to 5 stars from the Sydney Morning Herald. They’ve also worked with Sydney Opera House, Performance Space, Hayes Theatre Company, ATYP, Sydney Film Festival and the Art Gallery of NSW.”
