Fresh Takes: Autumn ’25 ft Eileen Chong and Josie McSkimming

Fresh Takes is a seasonal showcase of some of the best new pieces of publishing, featuring writers reading from their new works and reflecting on the writers and creators who have shaped them.

Please note: The Library Bar will be open from 5 pm ahead of the event

Eileen Chong is an Australian poet who was born in Singapore of Hakka, Hokkien and Peranakan descent. She is the author of ten books published in Australia and the United States. Major prizes her work has been shortlisted for include the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and twice for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her debut book, Burning Rice, is the first poetry collection by an Asian Australian to be studied as part of the NSW HSC English syllabus. Her collection with UQP, A Thousand Crimson Blooms, was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry. She lives and works on the unceded land of the Gadigal of the Eora Nation. Her latest collection is We Speak of Flowers and published by UQP.

Josie McSkimming is a social worker, psychotherapist, university lecturer and author. She is the youngest of three sisters, her eldest being the award-winning poet, Dorothy Porter. Josie has appeared on many podcasts, radio programs, and on ABC TV. She is committed to social change and social justice and has become an ardent amateur naturalist and environmentalist. Her book Gutsy Girls is published by UQP.

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