Meet Our esteemed MICOLLAC 2027 speakers
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Monika Bednarek
Habilitation, PhD, Magister Artium (Augsburg), FAHA
Prof. Monika Bednarek has research interests in the areas of corpus linguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, pragmatics, media linguistics, and, more specifically, the linguistic expression of emotion and attitude. She is the director of the Sydney Corpus Lab, which aims to promote corpus linguistics in Australia.
Plenary Speakers
Prof. Anita Heiss
Dr. Anita Heiss AM, DLitt, is a Wiradyuri author, Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland, and advocate for Indigenous literacy. Writing across children’s fiction, adult fiction, historical fiction, and non-fiction, her published works include Who Am I?, Am I Black Enough for You?, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia, and Not Meeting Mr. Right. Her novel Tiddas was adapted into a play for the 2022 Brisbane Festival, and her latest book is Dirrayawadha (Rise Up). Globally, Dr. Heiss lectures on Aboriginal literature and works with remote communities to encourage young writers. She also serves as a Lifetime Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, alongside ambassador roles with Worawa Aboriginal College, the GO Foundation, and the Sydney Swans.
Prof. Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf
Yunisrina Qismullah Yusuf was born in Banda Aceh on June 17, 1980. She is a Professor at the Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK). She received her Bachelor’s degree in English Education in 2002 from Universitas Syiah Kuala. She completed her Master’s in Linguistics in 2006 and Ph.D. in Phonology in 2013, both from the Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. She was promoted to a Full Professor in Phonology/Linguistics in 2021. Her articles have appeared in reputable journals and she also acts as a reviewer for several national and international journals. She is currently the head of Pusat Pengembangan Jurnal Ilmiah (Center for Scientific Journal Development) USK, and the editor-in-chief of Studies in English Language and Education journal. This is the first journal at USK to be indexed in Scopus. Her research interests are in the fields of linguistics, English education, and literature.
Dr. Zainor Izat Zainal
Zainor Izat Zainal is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, Faculty of Modern Languages and Communication, Universiti Putra Malaysia, where she teaches creative writing and miscellaneous other subjects related to world literature. Her research interests centre on the intersection of literature with environmental concerns, Malaysian literature in English, postcolonial studies, and literature pedagogy. She has published articles and book chapters on Malaysian literature and the environment, issues in Malaysian higher education and literature pedagogy. She has also served as principal researcher on several funded projects and has contributed as a translator and scriptwriter for various media productions. Her academic contributions are complemented by leadership roles, including Vice President of ASLE-ASEAN and Co-Editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian Ecocriticism.
