When poets Laurie May and Melanie Mununggurr travel to Nhulunbuy with Roadshow NT in May, they’ll be bringing much more than a performance.

Across school and community workshops, the pair will also be creating space for people to write, experiment, share stories, and build confidence, while also opening up conversations about where poetry can take you.

Supported by Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation and the NT Government’s Department of Education and Training, they will be travelling to Garrthalala Homelands to lead workshops with school groups there, as well as spending time at Nhulunbuy High School.

This is all alongside an Introduction to Poetry workshop at Gove Arts Theatre open to the public, with spaces still available.

A nationally recognised poet, Laurie is the Artistic & Festival Director for Red Dirt Poetry Festival and has been running workshops across the Northern Territory since 2013. Originally born in Weipa on Cape York, she later lived in Darwin before moving south to Mparntwe / Alice Springs, and says she is excited to return to the tropics for this trip. She’s even bringing her fishing rod and is open to someone taking her out mudcrabbing or fishing.

Laurie will be joined by Melanie Mununggurr, a national slam-winning Djapu poet with strong ties to the region. Melanie will also be travelling with her two children as she returns to homelands to share poetry with community.

Together, they are bringing their experience as writers and performers to inspire creativity and create pathways for remote artists.

Making time for the art

Laurie says one of the most valuable things a workshop can offer is time, especially for people balancing work, caring responsibilities, and other commitments.

“Even for me, running workshops is beautiful because I get time to say: stop everything! We’re writing poetry now,” she says.

And for Laurie, the point is not perfection.

“The idea of any workshop is that you’re not going to come out of it with a polished piece of poetry,” she says, “but you’re going to come out of it with ideas and inspiration.”

“Just finding the time to sit down and spend an hour or two writing, in a structured setting, is really important for poets.”

>> Listen to Laurie May read one of her poems: Yule on the Cusp of Four Deserts

Building confidence through poetry

The workshops in Nhulunbuy will explore both writing and performance, encouraging participants to develop their ideas and build confidence in sharing them.

“We would love people who come to the workshops to get that confidence to read on stage and in front of people,” Laurie says, hoping workshop participants will join her on stage at Roadshow NT – Live in Nhulunbuy.

She and Melanie will be performing alongside band TANG and singer, comedian, and MC Shalom Kaa on Friday, 8 May.

For many people, reading aloud can be daunting, but Laurie hopes the workshops can offer a supportive way in.

Opening pathways for regional and remote artists

For Laurie, bringing poetry workshops and performances to regional and remote communities is about much more than a one-off event.

“Regional artists are underrepresented. Remote artists are even more underrepresented in national spaces.”

She says one of the most important reasons for going to places like Nhulunbuy is to connect with people, encourage creativity, and help open doors.

“In the short time that we’re there, hopefully we can empower people and encourage them to write poetry.”

“We can talk to them about funding, festivals, and other opportunities for remote creatives to step up on to Territory-wide and even national stages,” Laurie says.

From local workshops to international stages

That idea of poetry as a pathway is already playing out in real time.

After Nhulunbuy, Laurie and Melanie will head to the Netherlands, where Melanie will perform at the Poetry International Festival Rotterdam, a major international festival that has been running for more than 50 years.

This year, the festival is partnering with Red Dirt Poetry to support Melanie’s participation.

It marks an exciting next step: from community workshops in East Arnhem Land to one of the world’s most established poetry festivals.

For Laurie, opportunities like this show exactly why regional and remote arts development matters.

“You don’t have to be this super experienced poet,” she says. “As long as you come to the workshops, learn and grow within that space, then those opportunities can be there if you want to take advantage of them.”

She points to strong examples from Red Dirt Poetry’s own slam pathway, which organises regional heats in the NT, and the winners go on to compete nationally.

“In 2018, Melanie Mununggurr actually won the Australian Poetry Slam,” Laurie says.

And in 2022, Red Dirt Poetry’s first slam heat in Tennant Creek led to another standout success.

“We found Jo Yang, a teacher there, who we took down to Sydney and she won the nationals as well,” Laurie says. “She had only written three poems before.”

For Laurie and Melanie, that’s the heart of the work: creating spaces where people can grow their confidence and imagine bigger possibilities for themselves and their stories.

Join Laurie and Melanie in Nhulunbuy

If you’re in Nhulunbuy, this is a chance to experience live poetry and music, build your skills, and connect with new creative opportunities.

• Join the workshop: Introduction to Poetry (6 May – $10)
• Come along to the performance (8 May – $25)
• Join Shalom Kaa’s workshop on public speaking (9 May – $10)

Or share these opportunities with friends, family, and creative networks in the region.