Lay Maloney is a young genderfluid storyteller of the Gumbaynggirr and Gunggandji nations and South Sea Islander heritage based on Dunghutti Country. After university, Lay worked at the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition. They did not choose to be a writer - writing chose them. Their first commission was in 2020 for More Than Melanin zine. Their poetry has been published in NANGAMAY MANA DJURALI, and in 2022, they were the recipient of the State Library of Queensland's black&write! Writing Fellowship for their debut novel, Weaving Us Together. They were the Emerging Producer for the 2024 Blak & Bright festival in Naarm, before moving back to Country, where they continue to write fiction and poetry. They tend to only leave their hobbit hole for the essentials: family, friends, adventure and the sea.