Raelee Lancaster is a writer and librarian based in Brisbane, Queensland.

Raelee’s writing crosses poetry, nonfiction, criticism, and playwriting. Raelee’s writing has featured in The Guardian, SBS Voices, The Griffith Review, Overland, Meanjin, The Big Issue, Australian Poetry Journal, and more. Anthologies that feature her work include Woven (Magabala, 2024), Emergence (Hardie Grant, 2023), and Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today (UQP, 2020).

In 2018, Raelee was awarded first place for the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers. From 2018-2020, Raelee was employed by the National Young Writers Festival, firstly as a creative producer and subsequently as Co-Director. In 2019, Raelee was a recipient of a Copyright Agency First Nations Fellowship.

Raelee’s library career crosses academic library services and heritage collections. Raelee is passionate about enriching the metadata of Indigenous collections, Indigenous governance and soveriegnty within libraries and archives, and information literacy. In 2024, Raelee was awarded the Emerging Leader Award by the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). Raelee hopes to combine her library work with her creative pursuits to promote empathy, listening, and laughter in the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) sector.

Raised on Awabakal lands, Raelee is descended from the Wiradjuri and Biripi people.

Photograph by Josh Martoo.

WHAT I’M DOING NOW

I’m a Brisbane-based writer and librarian/archivist.

Curating programs—whether it’s artist line-ups, collection material, or Spotify playlists—is one of my favourite creative outlets. Recently, I’ve struggled to find time to write, so I’ve set a gentle goal for the second half of 2025: 200 words a day, without judgment. I believe that to be a good writer, one needs to read widely and diversely. I track my reading progress on Storygraph.

My current focus areas are:

  • Nurturing my creative practice.
  • Working full-time within academic library and archival collections.
  • Attending and reviewing film, theatre, live music, and art events.
  • Promoting empathy, listening, and laughter in all I do.

Approximately 80% of my time and energy will go into these areas.

I welcome queries for new projects including invitations, commissions, readings, and speaking engagements. All engagements must offer either payment or in-kind compensation.

To send me a query or to ask for more information, contact me here.

This statement was last updated on 01 August 2025. This statement will be revised by 20 January 2026.

This page is a public declaration of my intentions and a reminder to myself to stay aligned with what matters most. It was inspired by Thomas Frank and Derek Sivers.

Headshot by Playlab Theatre.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

I pay my respects to the land that nurtured me, the land of the Awabakal and Worimi peoples.

I pay my respects to the land upon which I live and work, that of the Yuggera, Turrbal, Yugarabul, Jagera and Yugambeh peoples.

I pay my respects to the traditional custodians of the lands that carry my songlines, that of the Wiradjuri and Biripi peoples.

I pay my respects to elders past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should navigate this site with caution as it contains images and names of deceased people.

Photograph by Thomas Lancaster