The GHANtastic DOES sound fantastic!

The GHANtastic Writers’ Tour sets off on 6 September on the 2979 km journey from Darwin to Adelaide with 6 award-winning authors and entertainers for 2 weeks of fabulous sounding talks, performances and workshops in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and Adelaide.

The Tour will be joined by other writers and entertainers along the way, performing, speaking and delivering workshops in major towns between Darwin and Adelaide. It leaves Darwin Wednesday morning, after a rail-side champagne farewell and has its first stop in Katherine that afternoon.

Events in Darwin start earlier, on the Monday, with an early screening of the new Australian ‘musical of a different kind’ One Night the Moon at the Deckchair Cinema, followed by an evening launch on Tuesday. The film is not expected to be in cinemas before November 06.

The Ghan arrives in Alice Springs on Thursday, 7th September where the Tour merges with the Alice Springs Festival. It then goes ‘off-track’ and takes in the Central region by car.

The Tour then reboards The Ghan, departing Alice Springs on the 14th September and arriving in Adelaide on Friday 15th September.

Two Indigenous writers, both winners of the David Unapaion Award, will be featured:

• Kamilaroi novelist Philip McLaren (NSW), is well known for his novels (many of which have been translated into French and distributed internationally) and as a pioneer of the Aboriginal thriller genre. Philip has participated in Creative Writing Tours in remote communities and schools and delivered numerous lectures and readings for many Australian universities and Writer’s festivals, as well as in New Zealand and Berlin.
• Samuel Wagan Watson is the Munanjali/Birri Gubba poet (Qld), who recently won the 2005 NSW Premier’s Book Award for his anthology Smoke Encrypted Whispers. He is a Brisbane-based writer and Public Art Project Manager. Samuel describes his influences in writing as Nick Cave, Tom Waites, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, and Robert Adamson. His other influences are his father, novelist Sam Watson, and his mother, who is a specialist teacher. He has been a recipient of the Fellowship of Australian Writers National Literary Awards (2001) and the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Awards (2000).

The list of literary luminaries & entertainers goes on:

• Andrew Bovell (SA) acclaimed playwright and screenwriter is one of Australia’s leading writers for stage and screen. Screenwriting (film) credits include The Book of Revelation (in pre-production), Lantana (adapted from Speaking in Tongues), Head On and Strictly Ballroom. Lantana won Best Screenplay at the 2003 London Critics’ Circle Film Awards in addition to 10 major awards in Australia. Andrew is a current member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council and the Board of the Adelaide Film Festival. He continues to develop work for both theatre and film through collaboration with other writers and individually.
• Leonie Norrington (NT) a young adult fiction writer was born in Darwin and grew up at Barunga community in central Arnhemland. Being brought up within a mixed culture environment, Leonie has always been very much a part of the Aboriginal stories and issues that surround her. She says “I am interested in the places where cultures and languages meet – especially how people use language and story to bridge cultural differences or to make statements about their separateness.” The Barrumbi Kids, was honour book in the Children’s Book Council awards 2003 and shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s prize 2003.The Last Muster (2004) was shortlisted for the WA Premier’s prize and on the Children’s Book Council’s Notable book list 2005.
• John Romeril (Vic) a pivotal playwright in the Australian theatre scene, started in the late sixties with La Mama then as a key writer for the Pram Factory. He has authored close to 80 works for stage, film and TV. Concentrating on theatre (with some television and film credits, the best known being One Night The Moon), his work has been consistently produced throughout Australia, at state theatre company level. John has numerous awards, is currently working with seven writers from the Asian region on the Landmines Project, and has recently completed a twelve week stint at the University of Canberra, the Australian Defence Force Academy, and the Australian National University as their Writing Fellow. John is also the recipient of an Australia Council Creative Fellowship (2004-2006) from the Literature Board.
• Leah Flanagan (NT) emerging Indigenous musical talent was born and bred in Darwin. Leah has performed at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and extensively along the East Coast. Trained in classical music at the Adelaide Conservatorium, Leah now writes and performs songs that reflect folk and jazz influences. Support highlights include: Neil Murray, Tom E. Lewis, Jillaine Jones, WildWater, Sara Storer, Shellie Morris and Frank Yamma. Leah has performed in many styles, including opera and musicals in Adelaide, SA and the NT, and she is an experienced vocal teacher. Leah is currently developing her debut CD.

A sample of some of the great sounding events:

Darwin: One Night the Moon screening & ‘In-Conversation’
Alice Springs filmmaker David Curl and award-winning screenwriters John Romeril and Andrew Bovell (Lantana) will talk about their lives, work and making of their films before a rare screening of One Night The Moon, written by John Romeril.

Katherine High School Free Workshop: Stories in the Classroom
Samuel Wagan Watson, Leonie Norrington and Andrew Bovell discuss the role of literature in the classroom. Relevant and high quality stories, poems, plays and films can often turn a reluctant reader into an avid one. These three high profile writers discuss the use of literature in the classroom and provide some practical suggestions about how to get kids excited about reading and writing through literature.

Katherine Free Seminar – The Writers’ Journey
Authors Philip McLaren, John Romeril and Sandra Thibodeaux -at the O’Keeffe Residenc, a beautiful National Trust property – discuss their ‘journeys’. How did they begin? What inspires them? What difficulties did they experience and how did they move through them? How have they been able to get ahead in the publishing/film industries? Fascinating for budding writers and interested readers/film- and theatre-goers.

Alice Springs: Writers on tour
Samuel Wagan Watson, Leonie Norrington, Philip McLaren and Leah Flanagan will read and perform their work alongside local writers and musicians. Light refreshments available. BYO cushion. Venue – Aboriginal Australia Art & Culture Centre.

Yulara Performance
A spectacular, one-off event featuring local songmen and storytellers alongside touring writers. Music, story, poetry – under the stars, beneath Uluru.

Alice Springs: Ali Curung Performance & Screening
Music, poetry, storytelling, and a movie, outdoors at Ali Curung Park.

Alice Springs: Workshop – Write for Children
With Leonie Norrington, NT author of the Barrumbi Kids series, at Red Hot Arts Space.

Bookings/enquiries for events
In Darwin, contact the NT Writers’ Centre, T: 8941 2651, E: info@ntwriters.com.au
In Katherine, contact Arts Katherine, T: 8971 0928
In Alice Springs, contact NT Writers’ Centre, Alice Springs: T – 8952 3810, E – alice@ntwriters.com.au
In Adelaide, contact the SA Writers’ Centre: T – 08 8223 7662, E: director@sawriters.on.net

Sponsored by: ArtsNT, the Australia Council for the Arts, The Sidney Myer Fund, GSR, Northern Territory Writers’ Centre, Katherine Regional Arts, Barkly Regional Arts & the South Australian Writers’ Centre.