Raelee Lancaster is a writer and academic library officer
based in Brisbane, Queensland.

Raelee’s writing career began in 2017 and crosses poetry, nonfiction, criticism, and playwriting. Raelee’s writing has featured in The Guardian, SBS Voices, The Saturday Paper, Overland, Meanjin, The Big Issue, Australian Poetry Journal, and more. Anthologies that feature her work include Fire Front: First Nations Poetry and Power Today (UQP, 2020) and The Anthology of Australian Prose Poetry (MUP, 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 began in 2019 and crosses library services and archival collections. Raelee has a keen interest in metadata, cataloguing, archival and community research, and information literacy. Raelee hopes to combine her library work with her writing/arts career to promote empathy, listening, and laughter in the GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) sector.

Raised on Awabakal and Worimi lands (Lake Macquarie/Newcastle), Raelee is descended from the Wiradjuri (Gilgandra/Gulargambone) and Biripi peoples.

Photograph by Josh Martoo.

WHAT I’M DOING NOW

A person reading at a microphone.

I’m a Brisbane-based writer (6 years) and an academic library professional (4 years).

My mission in life is to develop projects, curate collections, and design programs within arts and community spaces (including libraries and archives) to promote empathy, listening, and laughter.

My main priorities are:

  • Working full-time within academic library services and collections.
  • Studying a Master of Information Science part-time.
  • Developing my nonfiction writing and research skills.
  • Attending live music, film, and art events in my spare time. 

Approximately 90% of my time and energy will go into these areas.

I am open to new projects, invitations, or commissions such as feature articles, reviews and criticism, panel or in-conversation discussions, public speaking engagements, poetry commissions and readings, and more.

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

This statement was last updated on 14 March 2023. This statement will be revised by 14 June 2023.

This page is a public declaration and a reminder to myself. It was inspired by Thomas Frank and Derek Sivers.

Photograph by Phoebe le Brocque.

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