to open up / to respond as genuinely as possible / to offer hope / we want things to change / weaving solidarity from place and history / into collective purpose (Ellen Van Neerven and Layli Long Soldier)

Following from the much-loved Guwayu anthology, this second collaboration between Red Room Poetry and Magabala Books invites some of the world’s leading First Nations poets together in poetic conversation. This collection weaves words across lands and seas, gathering collaborative threads and shining a light on First Nations poetry from Australia and across the globe.

‘By anchoring the project in relationality, Woven’s foundation is about how we connect with each other and what we are prepared, as First Nation artists, to offer and receive. The emphasis was about (re)generating poetic First Nations bonds — solidarity, consensus, family, land, oceans, the moon, remembering, dreaming, sharing, opening, mourning, respect, celebrating, finding, losing, healing and more healing.’ — Anne-Marie Te Whiu

Poet collaborations in the anthology:
Linda Tuhiwai Smith & Jackie Huggins; Ali Cobby Eckermann & Joy Harjo; Natalie Harkin & Leanne Betasamosake Simpson; Samuel Wagan Watson & Sigbjørn Skåden; Tony Birch & Simon J. Ortiz; Ellen Van Neerven & Layli Long Soldier; Evelyn Araluen & Anahera Gildea; Lorna Munro & January Rogers; Alison Whittaker & Nadine Hura; Rhyan Clapham (aka Dobby) & Nils Rune Utsi (aka SlinCraze); Declan Fry & Craig Santos Perez; Bebe Backhouse-Oliver & Peter Sipeli; Jazz Money & Cassandra Barnett; Charmaine Papertalk Green & Anna Naupa; Chelsea Watego & Emma Wehipeihana; Raelee Lancaster & essa may ranapiri