You’re invited to a celebration of Naag Mountain, the debut collection by Manisha Anjali, described as ‘an exquisite work that resounds with the reminder of what can be reclaimed when a community moves towards their awakening’ (Eunice Andrada).

The event will take place on Thursday 4 April at The Alderman in Brunswick East. Naag Mountain will be launched by Autumn Royal, whose own debut collection The Drama Student was shortlisted for the 2023 Judith Wright Calanthe Award. The event will also include a live performance on harp by the multi-instrumentalist and composer Genevieve Fry.

Attendees are asked to arrive at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. Copies of Naag Mountain will be sold on the night through Brunswick Bound, with light refreshments available for purchase at the venue.

This event is free, but RSVP is essential as space is limited. Please register on this page as soon as possible to avoid missing out.

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ABOUT NAAG MOUNTAIN

Naag Mountain is an imagined recovery of the little-known cultural inheritance of a displaced and exploited people. Historical figures, folk characters and spirits are entwined in a narrative poem coloured by the surrealism of dreams. A community whose ancestors from India were indentured by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, to labour on sugar plantations in Fiji, receives their dreams as messages from their friends across the Tasman. A mysterious reel of film washes ashore in Port Douglas, depicting harrowing violence under the indenture system. The historical actors walk out of the film and into the world of the living. The community walks into the projection. The naag, the thousand-mouthed snake, conjures a floating mountain, lined with flowering trees, mists and dreams.

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ABOUT MANISHA ANJALI

Manisha Anjali was born in Suva, Fiji. She spends her time between Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. She is the founder of Neptune, a research and documentation platform for dreams, visions and hallucinations. Naag Mountain (Giramondo, 2024) is her debut book of poetry.

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ABOUT AUTUMN ROYAL

Autumn Royal creates drama, poetry and criticism on unceded Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung land. Autumn is an arts worker, sessional academic and the Interviews Editor at Cordite Poetry Review. Her poetry collections include She Woke and Rose, Liquidation and The Drama Student, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Queensland Premier’s Judith Wright Calanthe Award.

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ABOUT GENEVIEVE FRY

Genevieve Fry is a multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Naarm. Interested in exploratory music drawing inspiration from the natural world, their soundscapes encourage an inward journey touching on deep time, memory and sense of place. Genevieve is the co-founder of Eastmint artist run studios, label and performance space which focuses on presenting and supporting music that promotes deep listening from a diverse range of artists across all genres.

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