In 2024 I was commissioned by Red Dirt Poetry Festival to create a collaborative spoken word piece with producer James Mangohig for their Oscillations project, which pairs poets with musicians. James and I both grew up in Darwin and have known in each other for nearly two decades. He is an excellent musician and producer, and through our discussions, decided to create a piece that reflected the complex geo-political futures facing our home town, as a military hub, home of one of the world’s largest gas ports and frontline site of climate change.Given James’ experience as a producer for both muscians and theatre, I was excited to work with him to create a textured soundscape that presented speculative presents and futures of our hometown through a series of poetic vignettes. I recorded these pieces at home, and sent them over to James for production. I was so delighted with his response to my recordings; he layered my vocals with sound to create ‘Fighting for Breath’. The project was presented with a projected images from Darwin Harbour at the Oscillations showcase at the 2024 Red Dirt Poetry Festival. This piece is best listened to in headphones.
