The NT Writers Festival is an annual celebration of stories, language, culture and ideas shaped by place that alternates each year between Mparntwe/Alice Springs and Garramilla/Darwin.
In 2025, the NT Writers Festival returned to Mparntwe/Alice Springs with the theme of angkwerre-iweme | healing in the winds of change. Angkwerre-iweme is an Arrernte word and practice that describes the traditional healing method to clear us, cleanse us and bring renewal. Everyone is connected by our shared need for healing.
NT Writers Festival brings readers, writers and lovers of stories together to listen deeply – to each other, and to a diverse line-up of writers from across the country who shared truths, invited us to listen to the land, and helped us imagine a different future.
These 11 podcasts are recordings of curated panel discussions that were part of the 2025 festival program.
Theme music composed by Vito Lucarelli. Photo credit Oliver Eclipse.
Angkwerre-iweme – Healing in the Winds of Change
Immerse yourself into the festival altyerre-theme with a deep exploration of Angkwerre-iweme | healing in the winds of change. This is an Arrernte word and practice that describes the traditional healing method to clear and cleanse. This concept is threaded through the festival, and offers healing, justice, strength and renewal.
The altyerre was chosen in a collaborative process by Arrernte Elders and First Nations Peoples consultants, in workshops facilitated and coordinated by Running Waters Community Press. Listen to those involved talk about this process and what it means to them. Listen to those involved talk about this process and what it means to them.
When Cops Are Criminals
Veronica Gorrie, editor of the anthology When Cops Are Criminals, shares accounts of police brutality and corruption from survivors and academics. What do testimonies of racism, homophobia, and institutionalised violence tell us about the structures that are meant to keep our communities safe? And who is left behind?
This podcast includes topics some may find distressing. The conversation discusses violence and deaths in custody.
This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Language Is Power
What does it mean to reclaim a language? In the UN International Decade of Indigenous Languages, determined leaders are revitalising and cultivating languages in their communities. Join Barada, Yiman, Gangulu and Gureng Gureng linguist Gari Tudor-Smith, co-author of Bina: First Nations Languages, Old and New, contributor to Words to Sing the World Alive, Cheryl Leavy, and Samantha Penangka Armstrong, a “Language Nest” co-ordinator at the Pertame School, in conversation with Arrernte linguist Camile Dobson.
This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Strong language warning.
State Capture – Royce Kurmelovs
Join investigative journalist Royce Kurmelovs on a journey through Australia’s toxic relationship with Big Oil. From the government’s historical choice to ignore warnings of fossil fuel’s devastating impacts, to activists standing up against powerful companies, this is an essential look at how the oil and gas industry captured Australia- and how people power fights back.
Our Stories Heal Us
Writing can help us move through grief, pain and trauma – and can be a way to make sense of the past. Gina Chick’s memoir We Are the Stars is a bold story of connection to nature and grief at the death of a child; Bebe Oliver’s If This Is the End is a powerful poetry collection about queer identity and recovering from endings; and Emma Trenorden writes a deeply thoughtful, poetic response to the Black Summer fires in High Fire Danger. Don’t miss this conversation about using narrative as a means to come to terms with our greatest struggles.
This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Oil And Water
Here in the NT, we are deeply dependent on groundwater to live. What is our relationship to water like? How are fossil fuel interests influencing the government’s decisions on water protection? And what are traditional owners saying about these threats to our existence? Join storyteller and water justice campaigner, Maureen Nampijinpa O’Keefe, journalist and author of Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil, and art book maker Marilena Hewitt in conversation with Arid Lands Environment Centre’s Alex Vaughan.
Disrupting Literature
Australian literature is being faced with interventions that challenge old ways of doing. Indigenous authors write back to mainstream publishing and archives, and create new forms inspired by old traditions. In a time when universities and arts organisations are being increasingly censored, speaking out against genocide is crucial. Join Sara Saleh, Sharlene Allsopp, Theresa Penangke Alice, and Marie Elena Ellis speak about disrupting traditional forms of power. Facilitated by Kathryn Gilbey.
This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Supported by Meanjin.
We Are The Stars – Gina Chick
Gina Chick knows how to be at home in the wild. The winner of the first Alone Australia describes how an unconventional childhood led to an extraordinary life in her memoir, We Are the Stars. A somatic dancer, bushcraft teacher, and nature lover who talks to lakes and platypuses, Gina Chick treats us to tales of rebellion, grief, transformation, and how she listens to the land.
Past Perfect
What myths about the past prevail? How does the past inform our present? And how do writers contextualise their work in time? In Sharlene Allsopp’s essay Glitter and Guts the author butts up against the erasure of Aboriginal ANZACs, while Winnie Dunn’s story Sissies and Bros time-travels to an adolescent’s shift at a pizza shop, firmly planting the story in place and time with cultural references and language. Join these Griffith Review contributors as they explore their works in recent editions of the journal, in conversation with editor Carody Culver.
Generously sponsored by Griffith Review.
Closer To The Subject – Daniel Browning
Cultural critic and media personality Daniel Browning has spent almost three decades as a journalist, radio broadcaster, critic and interviewer, with conversations with the likes of the late Archie Roach, Doris Pilkington, and Vernon Ah Kee. Join the winner of the 2024 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards in Non Fiction to explore his life’s work. Facilitated by Meredith Lake.
Queerstories
Vulnerable and fierce, hilarious and heartbreaking, Queerstories celebrates the culture and creativity of the LGBTQI+ community one true story at a time; unexpected tales of pride, prejudice, resilience and resistance. An institution around the country, Queerstories has played to crowds big and small for the last ten years, from Mudgee to Murwillumbah, Albury to Adelaide, Brisbane and beyond, with an award-winning podcast featuring an archive of nearly 400 queer tales. Hosted by Maeve Marsden with Daniel Browning, Sam Elkin, Marilena Hewitt and more.