Mariam Koslay is a journalist, content creator and youth advocate based in Melbourne, Australia. Passionate about positive storytelling and creating consistent spaces for celebration, she is a former Fairfax Media Journalist and the creator of African Kings, a mini-documentary series which explores the lives and philosophies of eight African-Australian men in Victoria. She works in the Victorian Youth Justice system and volunteers her time engaging with the African-Australian community to creatively develop strength-based, educational workshops. A poet and script-writer, Mariam is ultimately excited to pour her skills into creating a more cohesive, collaborative society where every young person feels safe to grow and fail.

Mariam is in conversation with Christopher Sonn

Aïsha Trambas is an afro-greek arts worker who lives on Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung lands. Her passion is to create and be a part of experiences that deepen understanding of self and others through expression, dialogue, and learning.

Aïsha was the 2019 Program Coordinator of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, and is currently a Creative Producer at SIGNAL working with young artists aged 14-25 on free public programs. Aïsha has performed at Yirramboi Festival, Melbourne Writers’ Festival, Arts House, Testing Grounds, Melbourne Fringe Festival and elsewhere. In 2022, her poetry was published in Unlimited Futures, an anthology of Bla(c)k speculative fiction.

She is in conversation with Christopher Sonn and Matthew Klugman.

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 Edge Ensemble. Recent acting credits include This (RISING), Burning Love (Playlist Live), The Human Voice, A Disorganised Zoom Reading of Contagion, the audio play Watching (Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre), Seers (Playlist Live), The Watching with Western Edge, and Future Echoes: Edge Ensemble at Arts Centre Melbourne. She also appeared on ABC Melbourne as part of the Homespun storytelling gala. As a critically acclaimed emerging playwright, Amarachi was shortlisted for the 2021 Griffin Award. In 2021, she was selected for Melbourne Theatre Company’s First Stage program, Australian Theatre for Young People’s National Studio program, and Malthouse Theatre’s Besen Writers Group. She is currently a participating writer in Theatre Works’ She Writes Collective.

She is in conversation with Christopher Sonn and Matthew Klugman from Victoria University.

Idil Ali is a proud Somali woman raised by the East African community in the Carlton flats. A settler on stolen Wurundjeri land idil embeds her beliefs of freedom, sovereignty and resistance into her work as a spoken word artist, youth worker, moderator and community organiser. Idil has facilitated conversations as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival, Sacrededge Festival and more. She is in conversation with Christopher Sonn and Matthew Klugman from Victoria University.

Rosie Kalina is a visual artist and proud Wemba Wemba and Gunditjmara woman. She specializes in make-up artistry across fashion, film and television, and editorial. She attracts a large national and international following; with Huffington Post selecting her as one of their Top 10 Instagrammers in 2018. Her work also includes curating—most recently, Blak to the Future, at Wominjeka Festival 2018—community arts collaborations, exhibitions and art commissions. Through these platforms, Rosie challenges the notion of what it means to be Aboriginal using fierce and beautiful de-colonial imagery and by asserting herself as a sovereign woman. She is in conversation with Christopher Sonn and Matthew Klugman from Victoria University. 

Nickila is a second-generation Sri Lankan-Malay immigrant, currently living and working on unceded Wurundjeri land.

With a background in international studies and anthropology, Nickila brings together a passion for writing and producing to her role as Associate Producer: Communications & Engagement. They are committed to working on projects that bring people together and embed values of working with empathy, compassion and trust to their role at Next Wave and beyond.

Nickila is a member of the Oolstay collective, who curate electronic music events with the intention to connect and spotlight the plethora of creative communities in Naarm. 

Nickila is in conversation with Christopher Sonn and Matthew Klugman from Victoria Univeristy. 

Ruth Nyaruot Ruach is a South-Sudanese multidisciplinary artist, cultural curator and community arts worker. She uses art to understand herself, explore elements of her surroundings, heal, liberate herself and validate her blackness. She pays a lot of homage to understanding her cultural identity and what it means to be a black woman on stolen country. Ruth is in conversation with Christopher Sonn and Matthew Klugman from Victoria University.