Meet Me at the Intersection

Introductory activities

There are a range of pathways for students to engage with Meet Me at the Intersection; this unit of work presents options to facilitate those possibilities.

The anthology may be the focus of a sustained individual text study (1), OR it may be used as a supplementary text in a unit focused on another text or theme (2). Additionally, as it covers a range of text types and forms, it is well-suited to a study of the craft of writing, with the stories serving as mentor texts (3). It also has the potential to enable student voice and choice (4), wherein students select stories or sections to engage with individually or in small groups.

Teachers should therefore make an initial decision about the purpose and scope of studying this text in the classroom. The activities in this unit assume that students will engage in some independent reading of the text.

Meet Me at the Intersection presents a range of personal stories that explore the individual identities and experiences of the writers and the characters they have constructed. As these stories often centre on experiences of marginalisation and prejudice, a general content note should be provided so that students know what to expect. This may include:

• Racism
• Homophobia
• Classism
• Ableism and disablism
• Death and grief
• Bullying and harassment
• Sexual references

A sample content note has been provided below:

In this unit, you will encounter issues related to [list here]. Some people may find these issues discomforting or distressing. We will provide a safe space to discuss them, but if you require further support, [explain options and referrals based on your school’s context]. You may also wish to contact a support service like [list here].

In tandem with this, you should emphasise that the anthology presents a range of affirming and uplifting stories and experiences that celebrate diversity. Students should be invited to reflect upon this complexity.

Approaches to the text should include:

• A clear rationale for including the text in the curriculum, in alignment with your school or system’s text selection policy. Meet Me at the Intersection is an excellent text to increase students’ awareness and understanding of First Nations, culturally diverse, disabled, gender diverse, and LGBTQIA+ voices. This is important not only for informing balanced perspectives, but also for promoting reconciliation and intercultural understanding. Pedagogical aims may include:
  • Facilitating discussion, presentation skills, and student voice
  • Developing critical and creative thinking skills
  • Engagement with a multiplicity of Australian voices
  • Building empathy
  • Representing diverse peoples as complex individuals with differing and relatable identities and aspirations
• Protocols for bringing students safely into and safely out of the text (see below)
• Drawing on multiple sources when examining the context of specific stories, including the use of websites, interviews, own-voice accounts, photographs, and artworks
• A scaffolded and supported understanding of relevant concepts and contexts, including:
  • Explicit teaching of relevant vocabulary
  • The diversity of First Nations cultures, experiences, and identities
  • The continuity of First Nations cultures and the reassertion of rights to cultural identity
  • The range of chronic illnesses and disabilities that people live with
  • The social model of disability
  • Diversity in gender and sexuality
  • The history and patterns of immigration to Australia, and the experiences and discrimination faced by people of colour

Further support material may be found under More Resources.

Safely in and safely out protocols

Implement these protocols at the commencement and conclusion of this unit, as well as at the end of any lessons that covered confronting content.

To bring students safely into the text:

• Facilitate a space that is culturally, emotionally, and physically safe for students
• Emphasise that students are free to share their opinions without concern of silencing or judgement
• Develop personal cultural competency and awareness of trauma-informed practices
• Be aware of and acknowledge students’ comfort and/or discomfort
• Establish processes for students to inform the teacher if they are uncomfortable and/or wish to withdraw themselves from the discussion
• Enable referral pathways for students experiencing distress
• Recognise actions that embrace resistance, humanity, and intercultural understanding

To bring students safely out of the text:

• Debrief with students, allowing time for discussion and activities such as private journaling, exit cards, and thinking routines (e.g. ‘connect, extend, challenge’, ‘take note’)
• Respond to questions thoughtfully and with accuracy
• Model an appropriate emotional response
• Address problematic attitudes with curiosity rather than criticism
• Avoid asking students to ‘put themselves in the shoes’ of someone who does not share their lived experience
• Provide opportunities for action, student voice, and agency

Responding to disclosures

If students feel safe and secure, they may feel compelled by engagement with the text to disclose concerns (for a friend, family member, or themselves), personal experiences, or other sensitive information. As with any scenario involving this type of content, teachers should be familiar with child safety protocols and processes for responding to disclosures.

A playful and collaborative approach

You can draw on a range of strategies and games to establish a safe and supportive learning environment, as well as to encourage pro-social behaviour and connection among students. The following activities might be used as lesson starters OR for other specific purposes (e.g. small group bonding).

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Explicit vocabulary instruction

For a simple formative assessment, conduct a vocabulary probe at the beginning and end of the unit. You can print and distribute the vocabulary probe handout (PDF, 56KB) OR convert it to a digital response format like Microsoft or Google Forms. Suggested vocabulary includes:

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Analysing the cover and Introduction

The cover artwork by Ambelin Kwaymullina, who comes from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia, is itself a meaningful contribution to the anthology, as described on p. 7. Furthermore, the Introduction on pp. 9–13 explicates the editors’ (Kwaymullina and Rebecca Lim’s) interpretation of intersectionality and explains the order in which the stories have been arranged. Ask students to read the information about the cover artwork, as well as the Introduction, before answering the following questions:

• What do you think the term ‘Own Voices’ means?
• Why do you think it is important to share stories like this?
• Whose voices are represented and amplified in this anthology?
• The editors outline some of the difficulties of seeking to publish Own Voices stories. What are they?
• What are you curious to learn more about in this book?
• Why is the cover artwork an important part of the book?

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Investigating the writers

Each story in the anthology is prefaced by a short profile of its writer (contributor biographies are also available on pp. 277–284). This task asks students to conduct further research and produce a poster that profiles ONE contributor featured in Meet Me at the Intersection. This can be a writer or Kwaymullina as the cover artist. You can allocate contributors to ensure even distribution among students, OR allow them to choose based on their connection with and curiosity about a specific piece of work. Invite students to create their posters using a digital tool like Canva or PowerPoint. The following questions may help to guide their investigation:

• Where does the contributor live?
• What intersectional identities do they experience?
• Has this person written or published other works?
• What inspires their work?
• What questions does this person’s work invite or answer?

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Personal response on reading the text

Collaborative exploration

A shared close reading and analysis will equip students with knowledge and strategies to explore the other stories in the anthology.

‘Harry Potter and the Disappearing Pages’ by Olivia Muscat (pp. 63–71) is the fifth story in the collection. It presents a straightforward linear narrative, told mostly in the first person, while utilising elements of intertextuality.

Before reading, discuss some of the myths and facts about blindness and low vision.

During and after reading, discuss the following questions:

• How does Muscat commence her story? What changes after the first two paragraphs? Why might she begin in this way?
• How does Muscat describe the appearance of the words in her new book? What feelings are shown through this description? Provide evidence.
• Some words are repeated in the story. What are these? What impact does this repetition have?
• What language technique is used in ‘the fight to not be shoved in a box’ (p. 67)? What do you think is the literal meaning behind this sentence? What deeper message do you think it communicates?
• How does the writer finish her story? Why do you think she might conclude in this way?

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Photo essay

To enable students to make connections with the voices in the anthology, they may complete a photo essay representing themselves and their own intersections. The photo essay may include photos, illustrations, and/or symbols. Students should be mindful of copyright restrictions and seek material that is freely available under an appropriate licence, e.g. Creative Commons, Unsplash.

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Outline of key elements of the text

Plot

Meet Me at the Intersection contains 18 stories, with forms including prose narrative, memoir, and poetry. These are framed as ‘stories about marginalised peoples told by people from those marginalised groups’ (p. 9). Kwaymullina and Lim have curated stories across a spectrum of intersections, with a broad progression from First Nations peoples, to people with disability, to LGBTQIA+ writers, to migrants and people of colour. This produces cohesion within and between stories as different understandings and experiences of intersection accumulate – though the editors note ‘the impossibility of confining these narratives’ to any one group (p. 11).

In the Close Study section of this unit, students will have opportunities to engage with many of the stories in the anthology, and to define more closely their structural and language features.

Character and voice

A multitude of voices are represented in the collection: some are fictional, others are fictionalised selves, and others still are the writers’ own voices. It is appropriate for Year 9 readers to make sense of these voices as grappling with and/or representing ‘self’ as a fluid and evolving identity, a concept that many will find relevant and relatable. The formation of identity is a major theme in many stories in the anthology.

Themes

The unifying purpose behind the stories in Meet Me at the Intersection is to address what Kwaymullina and Lim refer to as ‘problems with the filter’. In compiling the anthology, they seek to bring attention to issues of systemic bias, as well as the experiences of those with intersecting marginalised identities. The stories more broadly allow entry points and discussion of such themes as:

• The experiences of First Nations peoples
• The experiences of people with disability
• The experiences of LGBTQIA+ peoples
• The experiences of migrants and people of colour
• Belonging
• Coming of age
• Emotional growth
• Diversity
• Identity
• Intersectionality
• Otherness
• Prejudice

Synthesising task

Summary table

Invite students to summarise the stories in the anthology using a table like the one below. At this stage, it is important to discuss how Kwaymullina and Lim have resisted categorisation. Highlight that, while the process of categorisation can be reductive, it can also help us to identify patterns and points of resonance between the stories.

A completed table (PDF, 73KB) has been provided.

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Personal response

Instructions to students:

Write a short personal response (300 words) to anything that you have learned so far about the intersectional experiences recounted in Meet Me at the Intersection. Have you been confused, confronted, enticed, affirmed, or upset by anything that you have discovered so far?

Due to the potentially personal and sensitive nature of students’ responses, it is advised that you offer this task as a tool for self-reflection, rather than for the purpose of class discussion.

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The writer’s craft

Structure and form

Featuring a range of established and emerging writers, Meet Me at the Intersection provides opportunities to observe the standard conventions of forms such as memoir, poetry, and short stories, as well as more experimental approaches like epistolary and second-person narratives.

Using different coloured sticky notes (one for each form), have students write separate statements about the features of memoir, poetry, and short stories. For example:

• Memoirs are about personal experiences.
• Short stories are fictional.
• Poetry uses complex vocabulary and figurative language.

Gather and display the sticky notes in a collaborative space, then have students further categorise the statements into:

This process should provide an opportunity for robust discussion and debate.

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Overall structure and progression

Read the final paragraph of this 2019 review of Meet Me at the Intersection, which describes the anthology as a ‘thematic rainbow’. In what ways does a rainbow provide a useful framing device for thinking about this text? Point out that a rainbow contains several colour bands that blend seamlessly with one another. Highlight too the multiple and overlapping nature of identities, and the shades or points of connection between the lived experiences of the people represented in the anthology.

Share some of these ideas with students, then ask them to discuss and reflect on the questions below:

• What kinds of voices are presented at the beginning of the collection?
• What kinds of voices are presented at the end of the collection?
• Can you notice moments when the voices shift?
• Why do you think the editors chose this structure?

Colour, symbol, image

As an extension of this line of thinking, invite students to select a story from Meet Me at the Intersection and represent it with a colour, symbol, and image (CSI). This strategy, from the Project Zero suite of thinking routines, asks students to abstract their understanding of a text or stimulus. Students may respond using the CSI template (PDF, 48KB), which you can collect and use to produce a classroom display.

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Use of parallels and contrasts

Many of the stories in Meet Me at the Intersection engage quite deliberately with juxtaposition, disjuncture, and contrasting perspectives. These parallels and contrasts also exist at a text level, particularly as the anthology progresses through stories of differing experiences and intersectional identities.

Invite students to compare and contrast TWO stories from the collection using a Venn diagram. At first glance, this seems a simple and straightforward task. The comparisons, however, will necessitate that students interrogate the decisions undertaken by the authors. Students should attempt to draw parallels and contrasts between the text types, narrative voice, plot, language, setting, symbolism, and themes in each story.

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Characterisation and narrative voice

As has been discussed, Meet Me at the Intersection is a collection of Own Voices accounts in various forms. In memoir, the narrative voice is almost certainly that of the author, whereas in poetry, it may belong to a fictional speaker or persona. In a short piece of fiction, the narrative voice may align with that of the author, but the genre asserts that the narrative may not be entirely factual, even when autobiographical elements exist.

The following terminology should be explicitly taught or revised to support this learning:

• First / second / third person
• Past / present / future tense
• Protagonist / antagonist
• Dynamic / static
• Flat character / round character
• Motivation
• Obstacle
• Internal / external
• Direct / indirect
• Speaker or persona

As a way of reinforcing basic writing skills, such as sentence composition, students may use this vocabulary to draft some statements and questions about the characters/speakers presented in the text. For example:

• The second-person voice creates an immersive experience for the reader.
• How does past-tense narration add a more reflective tone to the writing?

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Character construction

This activity is adapted from Novel Ideas: Teaching Fiction in the Middle Years by Erika Boas and Rosie Kerin.

Using excerpts from Meet Me at the Intersection, invite students to read and reflect upon the construction of character (or voice, for the memoir pieces):

Guiding questions might include:

• What information are we given about the character?
• What information can we infer about the character?
• What are the character’s personality traits? How do you know?
• What does the character look like? How do you know?
• How does the author use language features and structures to support their characterisation?
• What is important to the character? Why?

You might like to finish by asking students to decide which character/voice interests or resonates with them the most, and why.

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Point of view

Scavenger hunt

To ensure that students appreciate the difference between first-, second-, and third-person narration, have them complete a scavenger hunt with the following prompts:

• Find a story told in the first person.
• Find a story told in the third person.
• Find a story told in the second person.
• Find a story told in the past tense.
• Find a story told in the present tense.

It would be worthwhile discussing the effects and impacts of different points of view. Do they contribute to a sense of immediacy or urgency? Do they present a panoramic/wide-angle view of the story and characters, or a close-up view?

Following this discussion, students can select a short excerpt from one of the stories and experiment with changing the narrative perspective (for example, first to third person; second to first person).

Ask students to share their paragraphs and discuss the effects of the new perspective.

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Quote mingle

This activity is also adapted from Novel Ideas.

In a quote mingle, each student receives a random or curated quote on a strip of paper. They circulate the classroom until instructed to stop (you could play and pause music, similar to musical statues), then share their quote with the nearest student. Boas and Kerin suggest that, following the mingle, students might:

• Work together to categorise their quotes on butcher’s paper or the whiteboard
• Write a reflection on their quote after discussing it with a partner
• Use the quote as inspiration to write TWO subsequent sentences

The selected quotes may illuminate a range of textual features, such as style, character, or themes. In this instance, they should invite reflection on intersectionality and other related concepts from Meet Me at the Intersection. Suggestions are provided in the quote mingle handout (PDF, 79KB).

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Setting

The settings presented in the collection are myriad. Some stories are grounded specifically in place, while others are uncertain or less emphasised.

Importantly, Meet Me at the Intersection draws on stories written in and about Australia. Until recently, these kinds of stories were not considered ‘Australian’ because the writers were not ‘archetypal’ Australians (i.e. white, non-disabled, heteronormative). In this sense, the collection may open up discussions about what it means to be Australian, what constitutes an ‘Australian story’, and how the landscape may be experienced by a diverse population. It is important to challenge students’ preconceptions about these concepts so that they can recognise and respond to the lived experiences of different people in different environments.

Soundscapes

To explore the idea of setting and the places conjured by the authors, students may compose soundscapes to represent ONE setting from Meet Me at the Intersection. Suitable tools for composing a soundscape include GarageBand, Audacity, and Soundtrap.

Settings from the anthology include (but are not limited to):

• A football field
• A McDonalds
• A psychologist’s office
• A fan convention
• A café
• A country town
• A chemistry classroom
• A park on a summer’s day
• A swimming pool
• A cemetery
• A school playground

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Language and style

Being an anthology, Meet Me at the Intersection represents various styles and purposes in language use. These include (but are not limited to):

• Sensory description and evocation of people, places, and things
• Dialogue and direct speech
• Use of pronouns
• Italics
• Figurative language (e.g. onomatopoeia, similes)
• Euphemism (e.g. ‘rags’ or ‘get on’ in ‘School of Hard Knocks’ by Amra Pajalic, pp. 203–219)
• Allusion (e.g. James Dean in ‘Trouble’ by Kelly Gardiner, pp. 113–129)
• Adverbs
• Sentence structure

Invite students to find examples of these stylistic and language devices, and analyse their purpose and impact, using a table like the one below. They may identify several examples for each device. Remind them to include page references.

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Exploring the power of language

Meet Me at the Intersection is predominantly written in Standard Australian English (AusE), although there are many stories that feature other dialects, languages, and slang phrases (e.g. ‘Dear Mate’ by Kyle Lynch, pp. 41–56). There is a pervasive view among traditionalists that AusE is more ‘correct’ than other varieties of English, such as Aboriginal English (AbE). This, however, is a misconception. AusE is simply another variety of English that has been codified and accepted as the ‘standard’ in Australia. It is important to challenge the notion of what is considered ‘standard’ in this country, and to remind students that there is no one ‘correct’ way to think, speak, or act in the world.

NOTE: Bardi and Kija person Sharon Davis has written about AbE for both AIATSIS and IndigenousX – it would be worthwhile sharing and discussing these articles with students.

Following this discussion, you might challenge students to consider the implicit power dynamics of telling one’s story in AusE, and the statement that storytellers and editors make by incorporating non-‘standard’ languages into texts. The linguistic concepts of overt and covert prestige can provide a springboard for exploring the links between language use, identity, and belonging.

In This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books, authors Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne, and Kadija Sesay George point out that many works of literature are written in ‘the language of the oppressor’ rather than the author’s first language. Nevertheless, these authors ‘write back to empire’ in a way that resists colonial frameworks and reasserts identity.

Share this 2018 TED Talk by cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky, and invite students to discuss and reflect on the ideas therein.

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Because, but, so

To further explore these concepts about language and relate them to the text, students can engage in the sentence expansion strategy ‘because, but, so’. This involves a list of sentence stems or standalone statements that students can elaborate on with the adjunct of ‘because’, ‘but’, or ‘so’.

Sample statements include:

• Meet Me at the Intersection is written mainly in Standard Australian English [because / but / so] …
• Some authors in the collection have used words in their own languages or dialects [because / but / so] …
• There are some examples of slang in Meet Me at the Intersection [because / but / so] …
• Meet Me at the Intersection features voices from many cultural backgrounds [because / but / so] …
• Language shapes the way we think [because / but / so] …
• Telling stories helps people communicate their ideas [because / but / so] …
• Language crafts reality [because / but / so] …
• We all understand the world differently [because / but / so] …
• The writers in Meet Me at the Intersection reflect on intersectionality [because / but / so] …

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Text and meaning

This activity challenges students to find evidence of themes and connect them to a character or speaker. This enables them to appreciate that characters are vehicles for the exploration of themes, ideas, and issues in a text.

Decide on the number of examples and themes that students should look for. They can use a table like the one below to organise their ideas:

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Creative responses to mentor texts

The stories in Meet Me at the Intersection would make excellent mentor texts to support students’ exploration of voice and style in their own writing.

The table below identifies one or two elements from each story that may be highlighted as features of a mentor text. These are accompanied by writing prompts that invite students to use an aspect of the text as inspiration for their own composition.

The final Rich Assessment Task (see Informed Reaction) asks students to submit TWO pieces composed in response to these mentor texts, along with commentaries on the authorial choices they adopted in their writing.

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Synthesising task

This task requires students to produce a review or reflective commentary on an excerpt from Meet Me at the Intersection.

Instructions to students:

Choose any THREE texts from the anthology and document the subject matter, themes, and the special way the writers have used language features and devices to tell their story.

Then write:

(1) A short summary of each piece (about 100 words)

(2) A review of each piece (about 150 words)

The review should involve personal reflection on the effectiveness of the storytelling in conveying themes or ideas, and critical reflection on aspects of the story’s construction.

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Ways of reading the text

Further exploration of diversity and intersectionality

Before undertaking more in-depth exploration of identity, diversity, and intersectionality, make sure you revisit any prior agreements your class has about discussion protocols. These may include:

• Respectful listening
• Building on other people’s ideas
• Critiquing ideas and issues rather than individuals
• Avoiding generalisations and stereotypes
• Avoiding asking an individual to represent the values of a wider perceived group of individuals

Marginalisation and privilege

To reconnect with prior learning, conduct a class brainstorm on the following topic:

Which groups or individuals in society might be subject to marginalisation and ostracism?

Students will likely generate a list encompassing the intersectional identities presented in Meet Me at the Intersection. The list may include:

• First Nations peoples
• people with disability (including physical, intellectual, psychosocial, sensory, neurological, learning, and immunological disability, as well as neurodiversity)
• LGBTQIA+ people
• people of colour
• migrants
• women

Now, in pairs or small groups, ask students to discuss the meaning of ‘privilege’. Some prompting questions might include:

• What privileges do some people have at home, compared to their siblings/relatives?
• What privileges do some people have at school, compared to other students?
• What privileges do some people have in society, compared to other groups or individuals?

Distribute the privilege handout (PDF, 50KB), which lists several forms of privilege. Ask students to research the meaning of each term, ensuring that the information they gather comes from reputable sources. Some appropriate websites are listed below:

Once everyone has made some notes on the different forms of privilege, go through each one and answer any outstanding questions to fill the remaining gaps in students’ knowledge. Conducting this as a whole-class activity will mitigate any potentially harmful avenues of conversation that may arise outside a teacher-led discussion.

Analogy

Challenge students to scrunch up the handout from the previous activity and toss it into a wastepaper bin. The catch is that each person will stand at a different distance from the bin, based on the intersection of (imaginary) privileges. It is important that these positions are randomly assigned; students who are closer to the bin will find the challenge easier compared to those who are further away. This analogy is an embodied opportunity to demonstrate the effects of privilege.

Depending on your school community and class context, you may decide that it is more appropriate NOT to run this demonstration. As an alternative, you could show students this segment from The School That Tried To End Racism, which uses a similar analogy to explain how privilege works.

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Connections

When studying texts, students identify and reflect on a range of connections, including:

• Text-to-self
• Text-to-text
• Text-to-world

Students have already made text-to-self connections in the Initial Response section of this unit. In the following activities, they are invited to make text-to-text and text-to-world connections. They will need access to the list of words from the Explicit Vocabulary Instruction (under Introductory Activities), reproduced below for convenience:

Text-to-text

Ask students to find an example from Meet Me at the Intersection that connects to each vocabulary term. For example:

Text-to-world

Invite students to select ONE term from the vocabulary list as a starting point to locate a suitable TED Talk. Remind them that no one voice or experience should be relied on as representative of a larger whole; diversity exists within and between all communities.

A selection of appropriate TED Talks has been provided:

Students should then watch and summarise the learnings from their chosen TED Talk. This activity may be extended into the final Rich Assessment Task (see Informed Reaction), in which students produce their own TED Talk-style presentation.

Points of disconnection

Boas and Kerin have written about the notion of ‘disconnections’ in a literary text study: points of divergence that make apparent the ways a text is NOT reflective of the reader’s lived experience. These points of divergence may open up new perspectives and insights.

Ask students to reflect individually on the questions below:

• Was there anything you struggled to relate to in Meet Me at the Intersection?
• Were there any particular moments or ideas that you felt you didn’t understand?
• How is the text NOT the same as your life?
• Why is it important to read stories that are NOT reflective of our own experiences? How can reading Meet Me at the Intersection help your understanding of diversity and intersectionality?

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Secondary reading and viewing

Entry points into the theoretical underpinnings of diversity, intersectionality, and representation may be accessed through secondary reading and viewing. Critical lenses such as postcolonialism, feminism, and Marxism are relevant to Meet Me at the Intersection. It is likely that students will require scaffolding and support to access and make sense of these concepts. A jigsaw reading and viewing strategy will help students to collate their shared understanding.

NOTE: Postcolonial theory is concerned with the past, present, and ongoing effects of colonialism. In Australia, colonisation is ongoing because the coloniser has not departed (Wiradjuri writer Anita Heiss has explored this at length in ‘Post-Colonial – NOT!’).

Diversity in literature

Examining connections and disconnections opens the door to consider the importance of diversity in literature, especially literature for children and young adults. Insights into this topic are articulated in Ambelin Kwaymullina’s 2015 article for the Wheeler Centre.

Decolonisation

Decolonisation is the process of resisting and dismantling the implicit and explicit effects of colonialism. The following articles will provide a starting point for students to explore this concept:

• Barayamal – What is decolonising Australia?
• The Conversation – Explainer: what is decolonisation?
• Common Ground – What is Decolonisation?

For a literary framing, Joan Anim-Addo, Deirdre Osborne, and Kadija Sesay George in This is the Canon advance the idea that Own Voices representation, in addition to provoking empathy from people in positions of privilege, is an important act of self-determination that asserts identity and restores equity. The Points of Disconnection identified by students earlier are therefore as pertinent as the points of connection.

Challenging assumptions

The following resources will help students to explore some of the assumptions and biases people can have towards marginalised groups.

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Comparison with other texts

There are many texts that deal with themes of intersectionality, First Nations identities, disability, LGBTQIA+ identities, migrant experiences, discrimination, and questions of belonging within mainstream Australian culture. Several have been suggested below, though this list is by no means exhaustive.

Intersectional literature

• The Boy from the Mish* by Gary Lonesborough (a queer Indigenous YA novel set in a rural community)
• Becoming Kirrali Lewis* by Jane Harrison (follows an Aboriginal teenager who leaves home to study law in 1985)
• Catching Teller Crow by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina (a dual-perspective narrative featuring two Aboriginal protagonists)
• Unlimited Futures, ed. Rafeif Ismail and Ellen van Neerven (speculative fiction from First Nations and Black writers)
• Tiger Daughter* by Rebecca Lim (a story about growing up Asian in Australia from a first generation migrant child’s perspective)
• The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling* by Wai Chim (a YA novel about growing up in a migrant Asian family with a mother experiencing mental illness)
• The F Team* by Rawah Arja (focuses on a young man’s relationships with his extended Lebanese family and friends)
• The Hate Race* by Maxine Beneba Clarke (a memoir about growing up black in white middle-class Australia)
• Say Hello by Carly Findlay (a memoir about living with a visibly different appearance)
• Stars in Their Eyes* by Jessica Walton, illus. Aśka (a graphic novel about a queer, disabled teenager who lives with chronic pain)
  • NOTE: This text has its origins in the similarly-named short story from Meet Me at the Intersection, demonstrating the effectiveness of storytelling (particularly storytelling by and about people who are underrepresented in literature) across different forms.
• Future Girl* by Asphyxia (a coming-of-age story about a Deaf teenager)
• Please Don’t Hug Me by Kay Kerr (a YA novel about a young autistic woman)
• An Unexpected Party Seth Malacari (an anthology of queer speculative fiction)
• Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories Michael Earp (an anthology of YA short stories by LGBTQIA+ writers)
• We Could Be Something by Will Kostakis (a story about queer identity and Greek-Australian culture)
• The Arrival* by Shaun Tan (a wordless visual novel that represents the migrant experience)
• The Growing Up series published by Black Inc. (including Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia* ed. Anita Heiss, Growing Up Disabled in Australia* ed. Carly Findlay, and Growing Up in Country Australia* ed. Rick Morton)

* Reading Australia title

Intersectional film and television

• Invisible Boys (2025) (follows teenagers in Geraldton, Western Australia around the time of the 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite; based on Holden Sheppard’s novel of the same name)
• Heartbreak High (2022–2025) (offers diverse cultural, sexual, gender, and neurodivergent representation for teenagers)
• Latecomers (2022) (a comedy drama starring two lead actors with cerebral palsy)
• What Does Australia Really Think About (2021) (explores prejudice and stigma around age, disability, and body size)
• Love on the Spectrum (2019–2021) (a reality show about autistic young adults exploring dating and relationships)
• Top End Wedding (2019) (a rom-com starring a Larrakia and Tiwi lead actress, filmed in the Northern Territory)
• In My Blood It Runs (2019) (an observational documentary about a ten-year-old Arrernte and Garrwa boy)
• Who Gets To Stay in Australia? (2019) (explores the challenges people face on the road to residency in Australia)
• Where Are You Really From? (2018–2020) (features stories from different migrant communities around Australia)
• Grace Beside Me (2018) (based on Sue McPherson’s novel of the same name*)
• You Can’t Ask That (2016–2022) (people from marginalised groups talk candidly about their experiences)
• The Family Law (2016–2019) (follows a Chinese-Australian family living on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast; based on Benjamin Law’s memoir of the same name)
• Cleverman (2016–2017) (a dystopian sci-fi with a majority Aboriginal cast that explores class, power, and racism)
• Chasing Asylum (2016) (a documentary about the impact of Australia’s offshore detention policies)
• Black Comedy (2014–2020) (a sketch comedy show featuring an ensemble cast of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performers)
• Redfern Now (2012–2013) (follows six Aboriginal families living in Redfern)

NOTE: Many of these books, films, and television shows contain mature themes and language. Discretion is advised when selecting texts to share with your students.

* Reading Australia title

Evaluation of the text as representative of Australian culture

To consolidate their understanding of the diverse experiences of people with intersectional identities, students may examine some data from the most recent Australian Census. At the time of writing, this was the 2021 Census.

It is important to highlight the quantitative and bureaucratic nature of statistics gathered by instruments like the Census, and to acknowledge the potential biases and traumas inherent in such data collection measures, particularly for First Nations peoples. It is also worth acknowledging that, while the Census aims to provide a snapshot of Australia’s population, it is not 100% accurate. For example, we know that in 2021 there was a net undercount of 170,752 First Nations persons. Consider the barriers people might face to participating in the Census, such as language differences, computer or Internet access, remoteness, and homelessness. For more information on the fallible nature of the Census, consult this 2022 NITV article or this 2021 ABC News segment.

With this in mind, students may view the ABC’s visualisation of Australia as 100 people. Some guiding questions for discussion include:

• How many people were counted in the 2021 Census?
• What percentage of the population (approx.) resides in the Northern Territory?
• What percentage of First Nations persons live in the Northern Territory?
• Which state is home to the most First Nations persons?
• How many immigrants have arrived between 2017 and August 2021?
• Which countries have the highest numbers of immigration to Australia?
• What percentage of Australians say that they have at least one long-term health issue?

The SBS Australian Census Explorer allows users to filter Census data by language or place. Students can take advantage of this feature to explore statistics about their local area. Some guiding questions include:

• How many people live in your local area?
• How many languages are spoken?
• What is the fifth most prevalent language in your area?
• How many different ancestries are represented in your area?
• What percentage of people living in your area identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander?
• What is the largest age group in your area?
• What is the most common job in your area? Do any of the top ten jobs surprise you?
• Is the number of families with two children in your area more or less than the Australian average?
• What is the most common number of people living in a household in your area?

Once they have explored these statistics, ask students to discuss the aspects that they find most interesting.

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Synthesising core ideas

At this point, you should revisit the Safely Out Protocols that were established in the Initial Response section of this unit (under Introductory Activities). Even if you have already been utilising them in prior learning sequences, a more formal evaluation and reflection may help students to develop an informed reaction to the text.

Some formal exercises for concluding and reflecting on a unit of work are outlined below:

• Students can write a reflection or evaluation on their learning experiences throughout the unit. They might consider:
  • What they feel they have learnt to do AND what they have learnt about in the context of this unit
  • What their favourite lesson was and why
  • What they found difficult and what they found most rewarding
  • How this unit might be relevant to their continuing studies in English
  • How they can apply the knowledge and skills from this unit to other subjects AND/OR their lives beyond the classroom
  • How their approach to note keeping and other organisational matters aided or hindered their learning
  • What changes they would recommend for the teaching of this unit in the future
• Conduct class surveys or questionnaires to promote student reflection and evaluation on the unit as a whole AND the teaching and learning that took place.
• Facilitate a class discussion about the biggest takeaways from this unit – with reference to reading, writing, and extended responses – leading to individual goal setting (if appropriate).
• Students can submit written responses to you and/or a peer for feedback, clarification, and support.

Rich assessment task

Part 1: TED Talk-style presentation

The complex identities presented in Meet Me at the Intersection are sometimes shown to precipitate discrimination and/or disadvantage, but they are also a source of pride, assertiveness, self-determination, and advocacy. Students may experience some of these intersections themselves, enabling them to offer a personal perspective on what they have read (though they should NOT be prevailed on to do so if they are not comfortable).

Revisit the earlier activity on Text-to-World connections (see Significance > Ways of Reading the Text > Connections), in which students watched and made notes on a TED Talk of their choosing. Students will now develop their own TED Talk-style presentation that follows the throughlines of Meet Me at the Intersection and synthesises what they have learned about intersectional identities.

Suitable topics for the presentation might include (but are not limited to):

• How to break down barriers and be your authentic self
• Why high school students should study additional languages
• Why it’s important to know yourself and get to know others

You can find several guides for planning and delivering TED Talks online. You might like to share some of these with students, including:

• Arc – Summative assessment: TED Talk
• Leon Theatre – TED Talk planning sheet and rubric
• TED – Speaker guide

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Part 2: creative response (narrative, memoir, poetry, non-fiction)

Building upon their Creative Responses from the Close Study section of this unit (under Text and Meaning), students are to submit TWO pieces that respond to mentor texts from Meet Me at the Intersection, along with commentaries on the authorial choices they adopted in their writing.

A task sheet (PDF, 115KB) and rubric (PDF, 59KB) have been developed for student use.

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