Red Room Poetry Fellows Showcase

A presentation of poetry in the heart of the Blue Mountains, featuring readings by 2024 Red Room Fellows Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon, Aloma Davis, Ella Jeffery, Gabe Journey-Jones, Theresa Violet Sainty and guest sets by Jaala Hallett and local musician Joseph John Matthews. Hosted by Red Room’s Luke Patterson, co-presented by Varuna, The National Writers’ House.

Presented as part of Contains Strong Language by Red Room Poetry and BBC, in partnership with Varuna, The National Writers' House.

Artist Bios

Luke Patterson is a Gamilaroi poet, folklorist and musician living on Gadigal lands. His research and creative pursuits are grounded in extensive work with First Nations and other community-based organisations across Australia.

Aloma Davis is an emerging poet and a not-so-emerging English teacher, living in Melbourne. A lover of words from childhood, her writing is concerned with social justice, beauty and kindness. Despite her best efforts, birds frequently fly in and out of her poems.

Ella Jeffery is a poet, editor and critic from Brisbane. Her debut collection, Dead Bolt, won the Anne Elder Award, the Puncher & Wattmann Prize for a First Book of Poems, and was shortlisted for the Mary Gilmore Award.

Theresa Violet Sainty is currently a Senior Indigenous Scholar with UTAS, undertaking a PhD which is a continuation of her decades long research (which began in 1997) as Aboriginal Linguistic Consultant with the palawa kani Language Program.

Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon is from Walyalup/Fremantle, and the author of If There Is a Butterfly That Drinks Tears (Life Before Man/Gazebo Books, 2023) and First Blood (Ginninderra Press, 2019).

Gabrielle Journey Jones is an award-winning performance poet based on Djiringanj Country. She has shared her poetry at events for 30 years, and has three collections published by Ginninderra Press—Spoken Medicine (2017), Etymology of Courage (2021) and The Purpose of Truth (2023).

Jaala Hallett is a Dunghutti poet and multidisciplinary communicator based on Dharug and Gundungurra country in the Blue Mountains, Australia. Through her work, Jaala explores relationships to the land, Aboriginal identity and culture, our bodies, sex, relationship, and communities.
Joseph John Matthews

Joseph John Matthews. This hairy sasquatch of a man emerges from his cave but once a year to shake the heavens and howl the ghosts from his bones. Some say he is over 10 feet tall and has eyes as black and deep as the midnight ocean.

Red Room Poetry is assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and by the NSW Government in association with Create NSW. This event is supported by the Australian Government through the International Cultural Diplomacy Arts Fund, the British Council, the City of Sydney, and the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund.