Melanie Saward is a proud descendant of the Bigambul and Wakka Wakka peoples. She is a Tulmur (Ipswich) based writer, an associate lecturer in creative writing at QUT, and a PhD student.Melanie's writing has been published in Flock – First Nations Stories; Kill Your Darlings, Overland, Scum Mag, and Verity La. She has been shortlisted for the Kuracca Prize and the David Unaipon Award and received highly commended mentions in the Boundless Indigenous Mentorship, the Harlequin First Nations Fellowship, and the Calibre Essay Prize.