Resisting cynicism or despair, Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders celebrates the forward-thinking wisdom of ancestors in Always Will Be – a book that “writes Aboriginal people, dreams, radical hope and love into the future” (Natalie Harkin).  

Saunders speaks with Jeanine Leane about imagining a future of sovereignty and self-determination for Goori people in her brilliant collection of speculative fiction. 

Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Resisting cynicism or despair, Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders celebrates the forward-thinking wisdom of ancestors in Always Will Be – a book that “writes Aboriginal people, dreams, radical hope and love into the future” (Natalie Harkin).  
Saunders speaks with Jeanine Leane about imagining a future of sovereignty and self-determination for Goori people in her brilliant collection of speculative fiction. 
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Australia's boldest literary festival.

Melbourne Writers Festival

Conversations from Australia's boldest literary festival.

Conversations from Australia's boldest literary festival.

Mykaela Saunders: Always Will Be

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.  

Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Leslie Jamison (Splinters), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’. 



Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.     Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Leslie Jamison (Splinters), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’. 
 
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

Leslie Jamison in Ghosts: An Evening of Storytelling

As AI advances and outstrips our notions of its limits and potential, could it capture that essential, undefinable human quality of great art? And if so, how might we preserve the rights of artists?  

Leading AI experts Marek Kowalkiewicz (The Economy of Algorithms), Toby Walsh (Machines Behaving Badly) and Professor Margaret Cameron, Head of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at University of Melbourne, speak with Paul Barclay.     

Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024. 

As AI advances and outstrips our notions of its limits and potential, could it capture that essential, undefinable human quality of great art? And if so, how might we preserve the rights of artists?     Leading AI experts Marek Kowalkiewicz (The Economy of Algorithms), Toby Walsh (Machines Behaving Badly) and Professor Margaret Cameron, Head of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at University of Melbourne, speak with Paul Barclay.     
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.

The Ghost in the Machines

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace. 

Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Sinéad Gleeson (Hagstone), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’. 

Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace. Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Sinéad Gleeson (Hagstone), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’.

Mykaela Saunders: Always Will Be

In 1 playlist(s)

Melbourne Writers Festival

Social links

Recent clips