Fire Front is a new anthology of First Nations poetry, edited by Gomeroi poet, essayist and legal academic Alison Whittaker. Featuring both established and emerging poets, it showcases the breadth of First Nations poetic voices, alongside essays from leading Aboriginal writers and thinkers who offer their own reflections on the power of the form. 

Charmaine Papertalk Green, in a still image from this event, performing a reading on Country

In this special showcase of Fire Front contributors, hosted by Whittaker, you’ll hear a Welcome to Country from Parbin-Ata Carolyn Briggs, followed by readings from Tony Birch, Charmaine Papertalk Green, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Meleika Gesa-Fatafehi, Jeanine Leane, Natalie Harkin, Lorna Munro, Raelee Lancaster, Luke Patterson and Evelyn Araluen. Then, Araluen will speak with Whittaker about how this landmark collection came together.

Alison Whittaker and Evelyn Araluen in conversation

Sally Warhaft speaks with Tom Porteous, who joined us live from Paris

Tom Porteous is a former journalist for the Guardian and the BBC, and an expert on global conflict management and resolution. Now deputy program director at Human Rights Watch, he joined Sally Warhaft live from Paris to discuss human rights and COVID-19. 

The pair talk through the existing tensions and inequities the pandemic has brought into sharp relief. They discuss, too, the immediate human rights challenges – from healthcare access and healthcare workers’ labor rights to family violence, education access and prisoners’ rights, to increasing incidents of racism.

Porteous also discusses post-pandemic life and the reasons for caution and optimism. What challenges can we anticipate, and mitigate, in terms of vaccine access? And could the post-COVID moment prompt a rethinking of social contracts, and an era of major public policy innovation?

not in Aus, mate
bad things don’t happen here
our beaches are open
they are not places where bloodied mattresses burn

Ellen van Neerven writes fiction, poetry, plays and non-fiction. An award-winning Mununjali Yugambeh writer and editor, their highly celebrated books include the experimental fiction collection, Heat and Light, and a book of poems, Comfort Food. This month, they released their second poetry collection, Throat, which explores love, language and land, and interrogates the colonial impulse.

Maxine Beneba Clarke, left, and Ellen van Neerven

Maxine Beneba Clarke is also a critically acclaimed writer and poet, whose work – including her award-winning 2016 poetry collection, Carrying the World – is known for its intensity and inventiveness, and for speaking truth to power.

Both writers bring humour and heart to critical questions of who we are, where we come from and the burden of Australia’s unreconciled history.

Speaking from their respective homes during the COVID-19 restrictions of May 2020, these two poetic powerhouses discuss their shared passion for the form, and consider ways in which poetry can help us process what’s happening in the world today. Introduced with a Welcome to Country from Parbin-Ata Carolyn Briggs.

Presented in partnership with Australian Poetry with the support of the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.