Four-day NT Writers Festival to be held in Alice Springs
The NT Writers Festival is hoping to bring interstate tourists to the Red Centre to experience the arts and culture of Central Australia.
Northern Territory
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The Northern Territory Writers Festival is hoping to bring creatives from all corners of Australia to Alice Springs for its 2023 event.
With the theme “listening deeply” set to remind guests about the importance of engaging in a world full of distractions, the festival will be held from June 1 to 4.
Festival artistic director Rita Horanyi said this years theme emerged from discussions with the festival advisory committee, Sylvia Purrurle Neale, Dani Powell, Meg Mooney and Gabriel Curtin, with Arrernte elder Kumalie Riley “invaluable” in shaping the theme.
“In Aboriginal cultures, there is often an emphasis on listening closely or listening well,” she said.
“As a non-Aboriginal person I am not best placed to discuss these rich concepts, I need to do the listening, but these discussions did make me reflect that listening deeply is something many of us need to do more often in our lives, and how hard it can be to do that in a world full of distractions.”
She said the theme would be woven through the program in storytelling nights, panel discussions, and events and experiences that encourage audiences to “listen and pay closer attention to the environment around them”.
Ms Horanyi said the festival’s location alternated annually between Darwin and Alice Springs, with this years event to be held at the Olive Pink Botanic Garden.
She said it was hoped the festival would bring attendees from other parts of the Territory and across the country.
“We have writers and artists participating from around the NT and beyond, so it’s an exciting opportunity for storytellers in the NT to be inspired by writers from around the country and vice versa,” she said.
“Holding an event like this outside of a capital city shifts the focus away from the usual centres and opens us up to hearing brilliant voices and stories that can be overlooked.”
Authors including Pulitzer Prize winner Geraldine Brooks, Wiradjuri author and cultural activist Dr Anita Heiss AM, Irish-Australian writer Chris Flynn and 2022-23 Australian Children’s Laureate Gabrielle Wang have already been announced in the festival line-up, with more authors to join as the festival edges closer to opening.
Major Events Minister Paul Kirby said he expected people to head to the festival from across Australia.
“It really is the perfect place for our storytellers to immerse themselves in the stunning desert environment where they can appreciate the cultural and linguistic diversity of the region,” he said.
“The Territory Labor Government values our creative industries which are a key driver in our ever-growing economy.”
Tickets for the event will go on sale alongside the launch of the full program on Wednesday, April 26 through the NT Writers Centre website.
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