Dirty Words in the DESERT

RED DIRT POETRY FESTIVAL PRESENTS

Now in its tenth year, the 2024 Red Dirt Poetry Festival is back to delight lovers of poetry, spoken word and storytelling in the heart of Central Australia, Mparntwe/Alice Springs, with a genuinely exciting line-up of Australian poetry talent.

THIS YEAR, THE festival expands into a five-day affair, opening with some astronomical poetry under the stars at the Earth Sanctuary, and closing with a full-scale production of Luka Lesson’s Agapi & Other Types of Love – a hip-hop opera odyssey at Araluen Arts Centre.

In between these events, you’ll find the NT poetry showcases in partnership with Red Room Poetry, the Central Australian heats of the National Poetry Slam, a poetry/music collaborative project called Oscillations, panels and even a poetic camel tour.

The festival also includes regular programming, such as the International Haiku Death Match Championship where one lucky punter takes home the worldwide trophy, as well as workshops in schools that are available to the public.

This is the most ambitious project that Festival Director Laurie May has embarked on, bringing poets together from around the country to create, collaborate and celebrate all things poetry here in the heart.

This year, the focus of the festival is liberation in all its forms – from the personal to the political, and all the intersections therein. Not only does the festival include an in-person program but also a curated digital offering, plus live-streaming events for those interstate or at home.

Red Dirt Poetry Festival is truly a literary festival like no other.

Red Dirt Poetry Festival
WHEN WED 21 – SUN 25 AUG 
AT MPARNTWE/ALICE SPRINGS 
INFO reddirtpoetryfestival.com

_{Photo: Nico Liengme}