AAWP 2026 | 2-4 December 2026 | UNSW Kensington

Conference: Day 3

 
Days
 
Hours
 
Minutes
 
Seconds
HOME

Day 3 Overview

Friday 4 December, 2026

Plenary 3: 'Creative Writing and Voice in the Asia Pacific' (Hybrid mode)

Confirmed speakers: Arpita Das, Conchitina Cruz, and Anitha Devi Pillai. More details coming soon.

Lunchtime panel: Creative Writing and Publishing in the Age of AI

Speakers: Luke Johnson (Chair), Nathan Hollier, Jennifer Mills, and Chris Conti.

Neither publishing nor creative writing are immune from the effects of artificial intelligence. This panel draws together industry and academic experts to examine the impacts AI has had on the creation and dissemination of literary texts thus far, and to discuss likely future developments in this space.

Evening event: Conference Dinner, from 7:00PM (registration details forthcoming)

Program details will be released soon. 

Photo credit: UNSW Visual Content Team

Speakers
A photograph of academic Chris Conti. He is a middle-aged white man with short grey hair and glasses. He is smiling brightly, on a background of greenery.
Chris Conti
Senior Lecturer
Western Sydney University
Dialog
A photograph of academic Chris Conti. He is a middle-aged white man with short grey hair and glasses. He is smiling brightly, on a background of greenery.
A photograph of academic Chris Conti. He is a middle-aged white man with short grey hair and glasses. He is smiling brightly, on a background of greenery.

Chris Conti

Senior Lecturer
Western Sydney University

Christopher Conti is Senior Lecturer of Literary Studies at Western Sydney University. He recently edited the special journal issues ‘AI and the Future of Literary Studies’ for Australian Literary Studies and ‘The Transdisciplinary Imperative’ for the Journal of Language, Literature and Culture. His essay ‘Keeping up with the machines in the postliterary age’ will appear in the forthcoming title The Artist and the Algorithm (OBP, 2026). 

View Profile
Conchitina Cruz, a Phillipina woman with shoulder-length dark hair. She smiles. On her left bicep is a floral tattoo.
Conchitina Cruz
Professor
University of the Philippines Diliman
Dialog
Conchitina Cruz, a Phillipina woman with shoulder-length dark hair. She smiles. On her left bicep is a floral tattoo.
Conchitina Cruz, a Phillipina woman with shoulder-length dark hair. She smiles. On her left bicep is a floral tattoo.

Conchitina Cruz

Professor
University of the Philippines Diliman

Conchitina Cruz is Professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman, where she teaches creative writing and literature. Dark Hours, her first book, won the Philippine National Book Award for Poetry. She co-runs the Quezon City-based small press Paper Trail Projects, and was one of the initial series editors of Bloomsbury Academic’s Research in Creative Writing. Recent fellowships include the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship and Bellagio Center Residency.

View profile
Arpita Das
Arpita Das
Founder-Publisher | Associate Professor
Yoda Press | Ashoka University
Dialog
Arpita Das
Arpita Das

Arpita Das

Founder-Publisher | Associate Professor
Yoda Press | Ashoka University

Arpita Das is the Founder-Publisher of the independent Indian publishing house, Yoda Press and Associate Professor of Writing at Ashoka University. In the past, she has set up and led the Word Lab at IIHS University in Bangalore and the Word to Screen Market at the Mumbai Film Festival. She writes a regular column for the NY-based trade journal Publishing Perspectives.

View Profile
A photograph of academic Nathan Hollier. He is a middle-aged white man with short, dark hair. He is wearing a suit and smiling gently.
Nathan Hollier
Manager | Chair
Australian National University Press | Independent Publishers Network Australia
Dialog
A photograph of academic Nathan Hollier. He is a middle-aged white man with short, dark hair. He is wearing a suit and smiling gently.
A photograph of academic Nathan Hollier. He is a middle-aged white man with short, dark hair. He is wearing a suit and smiling gently.

Nathan Hollier

Manager | Chair
Australian National University Press | Independent Publishers Network Australia

Nathan Hollier is Manager of ANU Press, Chair of the Independent Publishers Network Australia (formerly Small Press Network), member of the Scholarly and Journals Committee of the Australian Publishers Association and board member of Learned Publishing (UK).  He is a former CEO and Publisher of Melbourne University Publishing, Director of Monash University Publishing, and Editor of Overland. He has a PhD in Australian cultural history and has published widely on culture, politics and economics.

View Profile
A photograph of author Jennifer Mills. She is a middle-aged white woman with short grey and black hair. She has a nose piercing and ear piercings.
Jennifer Mills
Chair
Australian Society of Authors
Dialog
A photograph of author Jennifer Mills. She is a middle-aged white woman with short grey and black hair. She has a nose piercing and ear piercings.
A photograph of author Jennifer Mills. She is a middle-aged white woman with short grey and black hair. She has a nose piercing and ear piercings.

Jennifer Mills

Chair
Australian Society of Authors

Jennifer Mills is an author, editor and critic based on Kaurna Yarta (Adelaide). An advocate for the rights of writers and artists, Mills is currently Chair of the Australian Society of Authors. Her latest novel, Salvage, is published by Picador and was shortlisted for The Age book of the year; previous books include The Airways and Dyschronia, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. In 2025 Mills was awarded the Creative Australia Fellowship for Literature. 

View Profile
Anitha Devi Pillai, a Singaporean woman with long black hair. She wears a dark, floral-printed dress.
Anitha Devi Pillai
Senior Lecturer
Nanyang Technological University
Dialog
Anitha Devi Pillai, a Singaporean woman with long black hair. She wears a dark, floral-printed dress.
Anitha Devi Pillai, a Singaporean woman with long black hair. She wears a dark, floral-printed dress.

Anitha Devi Pillai

Senior Lecturer
Nanyang Technological University

Dr Anitha Devi Pillai is a Singaporean author, translator and applied linguist who teaches at Nanyang Technological University. She has eleven books, including Sembawang: A Novel, a finalist for the NUS Singapore History Prize, and the short-story collection What the Tongue Remembers. Her story “Lost in Translation” was longlisted for the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

View profile

Explore
Kensington walkway view at dusk
Tuesday 1 December
Postgraduate and Workshops Day
Main walkway on the UNSW Kensington campus
Wednesday 2 December
Conference: Day 1
Bronwyn OLIVER Globe 2002
Thursday 3 December
Conference: Day 2

Contact the AAWP 2026 team for all conference enquiries

Email Team