ALIVE National Writer-in-Residence: Michael Elwan on Storytelling, Culture, and Change

Yesterday, the ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation announced something that feels both deeply personal and profoundly public: I’ve been selected as one of the two new ALIVE National Writers-in-Residence; a role that brings lived experience storytelling into national mental health research and policy.

This opportunity isn’t just a title. For me, it’s a moment of arrival - and a call to keep going.

When I migrated to Australia over a decade ago, I carried more than just a suitcase. I carried grief, purpose, and a quiet determination to build something that would outlast the pain I’d survived. I didn’t imagine then that my story would one day sit alongside national research, policy conversations, or be named in the same sentence as "ALIVE National Writer-in-Residence Michael Elwan" But here we are.

The ALIVE Writer-in-Residence Program is designed to strengthen how we communicate mental health research - not just to other academics, but to the public, to communities, and to people who are too often left out of the story. It’s about capacity-building, yes. But more importantly, it’s about truth-telling.

And I have truths to tell.

Truths about what it means to grow up as a boy in Egypt, raised by grandparents and later becoming a carer for two dying parents before I was even an adult. Truths about silence and stigma, masculinity and survival. Truths about systems that failed us - and the kind of systems we can dare to imagine instead.

As a CaLD man, a suicide-bereaved son, a clinician, a lived-experience entrepreneur, and a researcher, I stand at many intersections. I don’t write from theory alone - I write from scars and sleepless nights, from frontline work and lived transformation.

During this 16-week residency, I’ll be writing pieces that weave together the emotional and structural layers of care, culture, gender, and justice. I’ll explore what gets lost in translation - and how we can build bridges between research, lived experience, and policy. And I’ll do it with the same heart I bring into every session, every keynote, every kitchen-table conversation.

I’m also honoured to share this journey with Ailsa Rayner, a powerful voice for change whose work across rural and remote communities has reshaped how we think about inclusion and access.

Together, we’re here to create something bigger than ourselves. Stories that invite change. Insights that disrupt silence. Visions that centre the wisdom of people who have walked through the fire and come out with something to say.

To everyone who has followed my journey - from those early days working double shifts in youth shelters, to now leading national conversations - thank you. And to those who are still finding their voice, may this residency be a reminder: our stories are not weaknesses. They are catalysts.

This residency isn’t just about what I write. It’s about who we write for. Let’s keep building with honesty, with humility, and with hope.

Based in Perth, WA, LEXs provides telehealth counselling across Australia for individuals, couples, and NDIS participants. Services extend to Social Work supervision, Peer Work supervision, training, and keynote speaking on men’s mental health, CaLD community wellbeing, and culturally responsive suicide prevention; helping people and organisations make mental-health care more compassionate, inclusive, and effective. LEXs provides services across Australia, supporting clients in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and beyond. To learn more about our work across Australia, visit LEXs' services page.