NT Writers Festival returns to Red Centre this weekend

The Northern Territory Writers Festival returns to the Red Centre from 29 May – 1 June 2025, with a bold, four-day program of talks, performances, immersive experiences, and workshops.

The main festival site is set against the stunning backdrop of Olive Pink Botanic Garden with six venues across Alice Springs hosting a range of vibrant events, including storytelling, panel conversations, and a Walk-In Cinema. The festival celebrates the richness of Australia’s cultural and linguistic diversity, bringing people together through story, language, and culture.

Held annually and alternating between the Top End and the Red Centre, the festival offers writers and readers across the Territory a chance to connect, reflect, and share.

This year’s theme, angkwerre-iweme — healing in the winds of change — invites audiences to explore storytelling as a pathway for truth-telling, renewal, and connection to Country.

The NT Writers Festival Artistic Director, Louise Omer commented, “The conversations, readings and performances will respond to and be in conversation with this place, to provoke, challenge and enlighten. We uplift ancient knowledge and traditional literacies and make space for truth-telling.”

More than 50 local writers join national guests including Jeanine Leane, Gina Chick, Royce Kurmelovs, Sara Saleh, Veronica Gorrie, Winnie Dunn, and Daniel Browning, sharing powerful stories of resilience, sovereignty, and transformation.

Highlights include:

  • Yitaki Maninjaku: Reading Country – a rare and immersive workshop with Warlpiri trackers in the Tanami Desert
  • The Winds of Change – poets and storytellers perform readings to explore life, loss, and healing through change
  • Healing Comes from the Land – an intimate fireside event with storytellers reflecting on the land’s power to heal
  • Resilient Women – Saying No to Violence – featuring Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group and Herstory Mparntwe
  • Language is Power, Disrupting Literature and Story Sovereignty – conservations on  language revitalisation, the rise of First Nations publishing, and innovative writing.

Family-friendly events include picture book readings, a walk-in cinema, and a traditional storytime with Warlpiri elder Anthony Egan.

Proudly supported by the Northern Territory Government through the NT Major Events Funding Program the 2025 NT Writers Festival promises a thought-provoking weekend, for writers, readers, and everyone in between. Explore the full program and book your tickets at: www.ntwriters.com.au/nt-writers-festival/