I acknowledge the Larrakia people of the Garramilla/Darwin region who are the traditional owners of the land I am writing about in this post. I acknowledge all elders of the past, present and future.
On Sunday morning I headed back to the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT for the last time. I attended my last panel of the festival, Insights into Commercial Fiction. Led by Editorial Director of Pantera Press and genre fiction advocate, Kate Cuthbert, three local authors, Mel A Rowe, Sean Guy and Sally Bothroyd, discussed their experiences in writing and publishing commercial fiction. Aimed at aspiring writers and those interested in learning more about how the industry works, this session was about mastering your craft and getting published, whether traditionally or otherwise.
In the afternoon, I attended Q & A in the Cafe: Better Love and Sex with Jennifer Pinkerton, the local author who had appeared on the Love of My Life panel at Brown’s Mart the day before.
Jennifer is a writer, photographer and producer. She’s written stories and journalism for The Guardian, National Geographic, the UK Telegraph, the Courier Mail, the Canberra Times and Qantas magazine, among other publications. She’s also helped launch live storytelling events, including the Top End’s Spun: True Tales Told in the Territory, and Canberra’s first Language Party, which celebrated the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages.
Jennifer’s book Heartland: what is the future of modern love? is a fascinating exploration of the landscape of modern love, and examines everything from kink to love in a changed climate.
Better Love and Sex explored connection, chemistry and commitment and the challenges and freedoms of love and sex in 2022. Jennifer and ABC Radio’s Rebecca McLaren had a wide-ranging discussion about how we might love better and have more fulfilling sex and relationships.
Relationships had seemed so easy to slip into back in 2008 with my first boyfriend, and in 2010 with the long-term partner I would be with for almost ten years. When I decided to start online dating again in 2021, the whole landscape had changed. After a year, I’d been left feeling despondent, and I’d thought there was no hope. I wanted real-world connection, but feared that was an unrealistic expectation thanks to the domination of dating apps and the disconnection they had caused.
My love of travel was something I had not shared with my last partner, and after that relationship I had come to believe that I was unlovable because of my travel ambitions. I could not imagine how someone could love such an ambitious traveller. I didn’t believe that a strong relationship could be sustained under such transient circumstances. But the existence of Heartland had opened my mind to the idea that there were many different pathways to love, and I could define that path. I could create a relationship that worked for me and who I was. I didn’t have to fear spinsterhood because I didn’t want to be shackled to a white picket fence. This was something I could define and create for myself.
I finished the night with Endnotes, where I joined festival writers, volunteers and staff for drinks, food and music to close the 2022 NT Writers Festival-Darwin program. I stuck around for the Wild Words poetry reading session.
Once back at my accommodation, I cried. I didn’t want the festival to be over. I wanted it to go on forever. But my time in the NT wasn’t over yet. There were more adventures to be had on this trip. Tomorrow, I was headed to Kakadu.
Kate Kelsen 