We are thrilled to reveal our first lineup announcement for the 2023 NT Writers Festival. A quartet of exceptional writers – Anita Heiss, Geraldine Brooks, Chris Flynn and Gabrielle Wang – will be among the artists illuminating this year’s festival theme of mwantye-le awaye | listen deeply.

Based in the U.S but born and raised in Australia, Pulitzer Prize winner, Geraldine Brooks, is a journalist and bestselling author of historical fiction. Her sweeping historical novel, Horse, explores the remarkable true story of America’s greatest racehorse, and is a gripping, multi-layered reckoning with the legacies of enslavement and racism in the U.S. today. We are delighted Geraldine will be joining us in person in Mparntwe, thanks to a partnership with Sydney Writers’ Festival.

A Wiradjuri author whose work spans historical fiction, non-fiction, commercial women’s fiction, poetry and children’s literature, Dr Anita Heiss AM is also a cultural activist and social commentator. Her award-winning historical novel, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams), is an epic tale of love, loss, belonging and resistance set by the life-giving Murrumbidgee River and is based on devastating true events.

Bestselling author of Mammoth, Chris Flynn, is an Irish-Australian writer who frequently writes from the perspective of non-human characters. Here Be Leviathans is his latest collection of bizarre, brilliant and boundary-pushing short stories that examine human behaviour from the perspective of outsiders. Editor-in-Residence at Museums Victoria, Chris has also written picture books for children about Horridus, Melbourne Museum’s Triceratops.

With over twenty books to her name, Gabrielle Wang is the 2022-2023 Australian Children’s Laureate. Her whimsical but profound books for middle grade readers blend Chinese and western culture with illustration and a touch of fantasy.