Announcing our inaugural elder-in-residence – Kaylene Poon
January 18, 2022
We are delighted to announce that Kaylene Poon will be our inaugural elder-in-residence. This new program has been made possible through donations from our Community Fund donors.
Kaylene Poon is a fourth-generation Chinese Australian, born and raised in Perth. She grew up in Northbridge next to the Chung Wah Association Hall in James Street. Her parents John & Win Fong were active members of the Chung Wah Association and were responders to the welfare needs of the elderly Chinese community up until the early 1970s.
Kaylene’s projects have included: the Chinese Pioneers’ monument at the East Perth Cemetery; conservation of the Chinese red silk banner, now on display at WA Museum Boola Bardip; and the newly unveiled Memorial Gardens at Karrakatta Cemetery for the exhumed remains from East Perth Cemetery. Kaylene continues to research, curate exhibitions, and disseminate Chinese history in WA. Kaylene continues to conduct oral histories and spend time with her extended family. In 2011 she was inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame to acknowledge her voluntary work in the Chinese community for over 30 years.
Kaylene will take up the elder-in-residence in February and will be working on her project ‘Stories from the grave – excavations from the East Perth Cemetery’.
We are now calling for nominations for our next elder-in-residence. This three-month residency provides a $3000 stipend for a storyteller over the age of 60 who has been practising their craft for at least ten years. The residency is open to Western Australian performers, writers, poets, oral storytellers, and scriptwriters. Nominees must be permanent residents, Australian citizens, or be living on a temporary protection visa. Applications close at 5pm AWST on 1 March 2022.
Download the nomination form OR submit your nomination online.
Download the Elder-in-residence nominee terms and conditions.
For more information email info@centreforstories.com.
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