First Nations poetics are contributing to peace-making practices within our communities and nation. Through creative practice, First Nations poetics of peace are healing the self, unreconciled relationships in the present and unreconciled narratives of the past. Noongar and Yawuru academic and storyteller Elfie Shiosaki will reflect on her new poetry collection Refugia as a practice of peace-making as well as the collective power of First Nations poetics of peace to constellate and navigate new directions in Indigenous futures.

About the speaker

Dr Elfie Shiosaki is Noongar and Yawuru academic and storyteller from the southwest region of Australia, leading community education about human rights through her award-winning Indigenous storytelling practices. Since completing a PhD in nation-building in 2015, she has consolidated her research into three key areas: histories of advocacy by Indigenous people for rights and self-determination; Indigenous understandings of rights; and the significance of Indigenous storytelling for rights discourses. 

Engaging with critical Indigenous research methodologies, her contributions to the field have generated new knowledge and decolonial theories about the agencies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to transform discourses of humanity through cultural diplomacy. Her research has social impact for First Nations people by revitalising Indigenous storytelling practices and supporting health and wellbeing through cultural resilience.

COVID protocols

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This seminar presentation is a dual-delivery event. Registration is only required for Zoom attendance; registration for in-person attendance is not required as neither the ANU nor ACT Health conduct contact tracing any longer.

If you require accessibility accommodations or a visitor Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan please email regnet.communications@anu.edu.au.

Image credit: Image of ‘Refugia’ book cover from https://magabala.com.au/products/refugia, used with permission of the author.