Hear Barrina South, Marissa McDowell and Samantha Faulkner, members of Us Mob Writing, read from Kuracca, their stunning collection of poetry and prose. This group of award-winning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers, performers, producers and storytellers is based in Canberra/Ngunnawal and Ngambri country. Hosted by Yvette Holt, author, poet and Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writing Network (FNAWN).
Barrina South is a Barkindji poet and critic. In 2023 she was published in the Tessta Review: A Journal of Poetry and was also commissioned by Red Room Poetry to be one of their 30in30 artists writing for the National Gallery of Australia.
Marissa McDowell is a Wiradyuri woman from Cowra, NSW. She is the Head of Commissions for NITV/SBS and was previously the creative producer for Black & White Films. Marissa has worked with Indigenous communities across Australia, helping them tell their stories through multi-media platforms.
Samantha Faulkner is a Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal woman hailing from the Badu and Moa islands in the Torres Strait and the Yadhaigana and Wuthathu Peoples of the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. She is the proud author of Life Blong Ali Drummond: A Life in the Torres Strait, the editor of Pamle: Torres Strait Islanders in Canberra and member of Us Mob Writing Group.
Yvette Henry Holt heralds from the Bidjara, Yiman, Wakaman Nations of Queensland. A multi-award-winning poet, editor, essayist — Yvette is Executive Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network FNAWN and a National Board Director of AP Australia Poetry.
The Us Mob Writing (UMW) group is made up of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander poets, writers and storytellers based in Canberra and the surrounding areas. Its members past and present have written poetry, plays, songs, children’s story books, novels, short stories, biographies and autobiographies, and have made documentary films, short films and TV dramas.
This event is sponsored and curated by the First Nations Australia Writing Network (FNAWN).
Festival Ticket Information
To take full advantage of all the events on offer, we recommend purchasing a gold or silver weekend pass. You can also purchase a single ticket (see below).