In partnership with Canberra Writers Festival, Libraries ACT invites you to a Refugee Week author conversation celebrating storytelling, identity and lived experience.

Join us for a relaxed and engaging author conversation with Emma Pei Yin, Aarti Betigeri and Andra Putnis, moderated by local writer Qin Qin. Bringing together voices from literature and journalism, the authors will reflect on how family histories shaped by Hong Kong, India and Latvia have influenced their writing, worldviews and creative practice.

This Refugee Week event explores how personal and inherited stories inform pathways to publication, journalism and literary work in Australia today. Through conversation, the authors will share insights into writing from lived experience, navigating the publishing landscape, and the role storytelling plays in fostering understanding and belonging.

About the speakers

Emma Pei Yin is an award‑winning writer, editor and literary advocate. Her debut novel When Sleeping Women Wake has been published internationally and translated into multiple languages. Emma is the founder of yinfluence, supporting PoC, queer and neurodivergent writers, and is an Author Advocate for Room to Read. She also co‑hosts Served With Rice Poddy, a trans‑Tasman literary podcast centring books, identity and community.