Red Dirt Poetry Festival is a four-day poetry and spoken word festival in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Ahead of this year’s festival, Cordite has commissioned three NT poets to publish their brilliant work:
Pantoum for Red-tailed Black Cockatoos by Emma Trenorden
Tabled by Mahalia Charlotte
scattered throughout our timelines by Spandana Pillarisetty
As we stand knee-deep in global shi[f]t, there is a deep uncertainty in the air, the arts, in our homes and communities of what comes next. For this year’s festival, our poets are reflecting on the concept of survival in fertile ruins, sharing works that speak to the theme in a liminal sense – that we are the in-between. The survivors and leavers of future ruins, who live and create in the ruins of ancestors in the same way future generations will live in ours. What is it exactly we want to leave behind? And is it too late to change the future to leave different ruins?
Red Dirt has partnered with scientists, musicians, cultural institutions and industry leaders to bring you an interactive festival that explores the past, the future outside current oppressive systems, and ways to endure within.
This festival explores what it means to survive and the ruins left behind.
Red Dirt Poetry Festival is on from 20–23 August 2026. Get your tickets here.
Emma Trenorden is a mparntwe-based poet and singer-songwriter. Born on the volcanic island of Rabaul, she now calls the red dirt and blue skies of Arrernte country home. She is an Arts Therapist with an interest in how we care for our wellbeing in a changing climate. In 2024 she released her debut EP,
reWILD, alongside a debut book of poems,
HIGH FIRE DANGER. The poems, written in response to the Black Summer Fires, and songs of
reWILD are a way for Emma to contemplate ways to stay connected to our wildness in these turbulent times.
Mahalia Charlotte writes about women – how they survive and live in this world. In 2025, she won the Katherine Heat of the Australian Poetry Slam and was a Top End Finalist. She was also chosen as part of Red Room’s 30in30 commissioned works. In 2026 she has been invited to speak at the Red Dirt Poetry Festival.
Spandana Pillarisetty is living and writing from Mparntwe/ Alice Springs on Arrernte country. They were born and raised in Hyderabad on the Deccan Plateau, before moving to Wurundjeri country for almost ten years. Currently they work with young people and communities on Arrernte country and continue to be moved by the stories that people and places hold.
Salty Plums (2022) is their first collection of poetry about sharing food in the public spaces of Mparntwe and they have since written poems whenever they can.
