Three practitioners of historical fiction – Anita Heiss AM, Geraldine Brooks and Christopher Raja – discuss how their writing challenges dominant narratives of the past.

Anita Heiss’ award-winning novel, BilaYarrudhalangdhuanggray, is an epic tale of love, loss, belonging, and the struggle for freedom, told through the eyes of a young Wiradyuri woman named Wagadhaany. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks’ latest novel, Horse, is a gripping, multi-layered reckoning with the legacy of enslavement and racism in America. Christopher Raja’s forthcoming novel explores the experiences of Afghan cameleers in Australia, finding their way in a strange new place. Facilitated by Eleanor Hogan, with Geraldine joining from Sydney by videolink.

This panel was sponsored by Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Three practitioners of historical fiction – Anita Heiss AM, Geraldine Brooks and Christopher Raja – discuss how their writing challenges dominant narratives of the past.
Anita Heiss’ award-winning novel, Bila Yarrudhalangdhuanggray, is an epic tale of love, loss, belonging, and the struggle for freedom, told through the eyes of a young Wiradyuri woman named Wagadhaany. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks’ latest novel, Horse, is a gripping, multi-layered reckoning with the legacy of enslavement and racism in America. Christopher Raja’s forthcoming novel explores the experiences of Afghan cameleers in Australia, finding their way in a strange new place. Facilitated by Eleanor Hogan, with Geraldine joining from Sydney by videolink.
This panel was sponsored by Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

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 2023, NTWF returned to Mparntwe and explored the theme of mwantye-le awaye | listen deeply. In Arrernte, mwantye-le awaye means to listen closely, to give things attention. In 2023, NT Writers Festival brought 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. 


Recorded by 8CCC Community Radio. Theme music composed by Vito Lucarelli. 

The <a href="https://www.ntwriters.com.au/nt-writers-festival/">NT Writers Festival</a> 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 2023, NTWF returned to Mparntwe and explored the theme of mwantye-le awaye | listen deeply. In Arrernte, mwantye-le awaye means to listen closely, to give things attention. In 2023, NT Writers Festival brought 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. 
 Recorded by 8CCC Community Radio. Theme music composed by Vito Lucarelli.

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