OzAsia Festival’s In Other Words is today revealing the full line-up of speakers and sessions coming to Adelaide Festival Centre this November 4-6 including celebrated authors, media personalities, and a famous chef.
In Other Words will bring together more than 60 writers and thinkers from diverse backgrounds over three stages around Adelaide Festival Centre as they engage in important conversations from politics to pop culture.
The program will coincide with the closing weekend of OzAsia Festival, Australia’s leading contemporary arts festival fostering cultural engagement between Australia and Asia.
In Other Words curator Jennifer Wong: “In Other Words is for anyone who’s curious about the world we live in and how we live in it together. There’s no reading you need to do in order to prepare for this festival – think of it as a weekend to discover some of the writers you’ll be enjoying over the summer.
“It’s a chance to be part of fascinating conversations amongst Asian Australian writers and speakers, and a handful of international authors who’ll be joining us from overseas in person and via Zoom.
“I hope that writers and speakers who’ve come from all around Australia will enjoy the opportunity to meet with their peers, form new friendships, and meet potential new collaborators. Who knows what wonderful new work might develop from this gathering in Adelaide?”
Jennifer Wong, Chinese-Australian writer, comedian, and MC (ABC TV Chopsticks or Fork?) is joined by Canadian-Australian broadcaster and journalist Beverley Wang (ABC Radio National) and television personality Marc Fennell (SBS TV The Feed, Dateline, Mastermind Australia; ABC TV India Now, The School That Tried to End Racism) as guest curators.
The highly anticipated Lunch on the Riverbank kicks off In Other Words 2022 with local celebrated author Katherine Tamiko Arguile in the Adelaide Riverbank Precinct. Audiences will delve into home-style Japanese cooking prepared by renowned Adelaide chef Simon Bryant while hearing about Arguile’s special history and connection to the dishes through her new book Meshi.
The following morning begins with provocative questions and personal stories at Business Breakfast in Adelaide Festival Centre’s Banquet Room starting at 7am. Audiences are invited to start their day with breakfast and discussion from prominent business and diversity leader Karen Loon and Ming Long who was the first woman with Asian heritage to lead a top 200 ASX-listed entity in Australia.
The Opening Night Gala: Words That Showed Me The Way brings together eight creatives including poet and performer Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, multi-award-winning comedian and writer Sami Shah and Indonesian born Singaporean writer and translator Clarissa Goenawan as they discuss words that lead and influence us. Register your interest for this free event here.
Fan favourite, Closing Night Debate, will discuss whether all Australian children should learn Mandarin at school. The 2021 defending champions Marc Fennell, Anchuli Felicia King and Benjamin Law will face off the new 2022 team, culture news editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Osman Faruqi, Sami Shah and Beverley Wang. Attendees for this free event are encouraged to register here.
Joining the program via Zoom live from Paris is Prize of Writer’s Union 2008 award winner Thuận. She will speak to audiences about an unfinished project that details the diasporic lives in France and Vietnam. Thuận on Chinatown will be held in Vietnamese with English interpretation.
Other highly anticipated sessions held in language include Afghan Women Leaders in Exile where three Afghan women leaders (Nazifa Yusufi Bek, Nafisa Hamed Faryabi and Shakila Abawi Shigarf) who recently evacuated from the country come together to explore the human impact of the fall of Afghanistan and what the future holds. This session will be held in Dari with English interpretation.
Australia’s favourite maths teacher, Eddie Woo (ABC ME’s Teenage Boss), is back with a puzzling new series for young readers. Mr Woo’s YouTube tutorials have reached over one million followers and more than 36 million views all together. Join him at In Other Words to discover the cryptic messages in his new books Time Out! and Team Trouble! Attendees for this free event are encouraged to register here.
Popular ABC RN show Stop Everything! joins the program with a live show from In Other Words! Listen to Benjamin Law and Beverley Wang as they talk to interstate and international writers and personalities who are at OzAsia Festival and catch up on the biggest and latest pop culture news of the week.
Other topics up for discussion among more than 30 free sessions include representation, ethics of technology, memoir writing, the rise of dictatorships, artificial intelligence and what might happen if an Asian male lead was cast as the star of a Hollywood spy thriller for the first time in history.
The program features a diverse line-up of speakers from various backgrounds – from two newly-elected politicians (Member for Fowler Dai Le MP, and Senator for Western Australia Fatima Payman), quadriplegic doctor, lawyer and disability advocate Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM to Walkley Award-winning journalist Sarah Malik and funeral director and author Jackie Bailey.
OzAsia Festival Artistic Director Annette Shun Wah: “I am thrilled that In Other Words returns to the OzAsia Festival program in its full capacity. In Other Words is a special place where a diverse range of ideas and perspectives are placed front and centre.
“Come curious and leave inspired. See you at In Other Words this November!”
Taking place from October 20 – November 6 2022, OzAsia Festival also includes ticketed performances across theatre, dance, music, visual arts, film, food and cultural events from across Asia and Australia.
Foodies favourite Lucky Dumpling Market returns to Elder Park and returning for its second year is Moon Lantern Trail with roving performances, interactive workshops and live music at Tarntanya Wama (Pinky Flat). For more information about In Other Words, visit www.ozasiafestival.com.au.
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