Wild Words

02/06/2026

A very BIG Thank You to all the incredible word smiths who turned up for Wild Words on Sunday! It was a bonanza of poetry and spoken word from some of the NT's best, as well as a few newbies. So thanks to Shelly, Mark, Mahalia, Tali, Kathy, Jayani, Kate, Zack, Juliet and Claire, as well as our first timers: Bettina, Belinda, Sophie and Ren. I personally had family members in the audience up from Melbourne and they were blown away by the standard of talent on display. So let's keep the momentum going and keep an eye on this page for next month's theme.

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22/05/2026

Yes, that's right: this month's Wild Words will be happening not as part of but as an adjunct to The Writer's Festival. So there will be some of you attending other events who may miss Wild Words and I apologise for that. But there will be others who say: "Yippee! I wasn't going to go to The Writer's Festival, but now I will just because Wild Words is on." I say: "There is enough love between Wild Words and The Writers Festival for us to both have bumper crowds and blow people's minds!"

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22/05/2026

Darwin’s longest running spoken word open-mic night is hosting a special festival edition of Wild Words. You’re invited to take to the stage to digest, process, and respond to this months theme: 'What's in a name?'.

Write a piece - prose, poetry, insight or rhyme - to share or relax to some of the Top End’s finest wordsmiths. This event is free, just turn up!

The NT Writers Festival is a celebration of story, language and culture. View the rest of our program at ntwriters.com.au or via the link in our bio.

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26/04/2026

Thanks to everyone who turned up today to Wild Words. It was, in a word, "intense" - and I don't mean we were all crouching under canvas avoiding the scout master. There were so many readers and sooooo much good poetry that I was left both enlightened and awakened. It was so gratifying and harmonious and the turn out was diverse and ready to share. Big thanks to our regulars: Kathy, Mark, Kate, Alcyoni, Alex, Zack, A, Dina and Kit. Big Ups for the first timers: Shelly, Jayani and Harry. Every time I host this event I am blown away by the artistic talent in this city. Thank you!

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24/04/2026

Ok,"4 going, 21 interested". Let' see if we can get those "interested" into "going"? Where do you go when things get tough? Where is your "happy place" when the world is falling apart around you? When chaos reigns, what or where is your "Place of Clarity"? This is the theme for this month's Wild Words. At the risk of being self-indulgent, I will tell you all that my "Place of Clarity" is music. But, it has to be music WITHOUT words - yeah, crazy, I know. Ambient, House, Techno, Classical, Jazz (the type of Jazz without words or scatting, whatever that is... bleep da bloop da bleep, yeah). Music, without words, is my "Place of Clarity". So what's yours? I would love to know. Is it gardening? Is it exercise? Is it fishing? Is it playing Minecraft? Unleash your Wild Words this Sunday, 1-3pm, at Saltwater Cafe at MAGNT.

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02/04/2026

Just a reminder to all NT wordsmiths that we are still calling for submissions for our poetry anthology (no publishing date so no deadline). Submissions are open to all residents of the NT, past or present. Your work does NOT have to be specifically NT themed. We just want to showcase artists who live or have lived here. Send all contributions to either [email protected] or [email protected].

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29/03/2026

Thanks to all the wonderful readers and "lurkers" (thanks for that term, Justine) who turned up today for Wild Words. It was an amazing afternoon where we all explored the digitisation of our lives down to the smallest pixel. We had Samantha describe her novel as a "data dump". And we had Emily totally lose a poem while trying to read from her phone. Ah, the wonders of technology. Me, I am old skool - meaning paper and pens. But we had some incredible readers today in a very intimate setting so thanks to Emily, Kathy, Kate, Samantha, Mark and Zack (who blew us all away with a poem he kinda sorta played around with on the way to the gig - WTF?). The Darwin creative community never ceases to surprise and inspire me. Thank you.

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28/03/2026

Let's see how many of you have taken a deep dive into your digital selves and come up for air, thinking, wow, my online life has been curated by my subconscious without any supervision by my superego. See you tomorrow:)

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14/03/2026

Ok. I get it. "Deconstruct" is a loaded word. Some of you hear it and think of that Paella you once had consisting of one prawn, one mussel and seven grains of rice and when you questioned the chef, his reply was: "It's deconstructed"? No, that chef is a wa**er and you should get your money back. The term "deconstruction" in philosophy, comes from the work of Jaques Derrida, where the point was to interrogate language, down to its fine details, in order to arrive at an agreed ontological meaning from which philosophy could move forward. So, when I say: "Deconstruct your digital self" - I mean, have a good hard look in the mirror and then see if matches your online profile. Because, if it doesn't, you are living a lie.

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22/02/2026

What an amazing afternoon of poetry at MAGNT, more specifically the balcony at Saltwater Café. We had a big turnout and 7 - yes, 7 first time readers who blew us all away! Incredible stuff! Thanks to regulars Kathy, Mark, Kate, Juliet, Samantha and a big thank you to Claire, who we have missed and who we love so much. To our first timers: Scott, Lila, Tolge, Leanne, Tanya (whose beautiful poem about losing her mother had us all in tears), Anna (for the least pretentious poem I have ever heard) and "A" - thank you for bringing the riz! So sigma to hear first timers smash it out of the park (listen to me with my Gen Alpha speak! What is happening to me?). If today was any indication of the future of live poetry in Darwin, then 2026 is going to be a cracking good year! Trust!

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