Presented in partnership with Red Room Poetry as part of Poetry Month, Varuna welcomes the 2026 Red Room Poetry fellows to the Varuna Reading Room
Join us for an afternoon of poetry in the heart of the Blue Mountains, featuring readings by 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellows Dakota Feirer, Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello, Kerry Greer, Rob Waters, Misbah Wolf, and Sela Ahosivi-Atiola, alongside a musical set by a local musician. Hosted by Red Room Poetry’s David Stavanger.
Supported by Bret Walker AO SC, Tim Game SC and the Adès Family Foundation.
ABOUT THE POETS
Sela Ahosivi-Atiola is a Tongan-Australian writer from Blacktown. She is a member of the Sweatshop Literacy Movement, and her children's book I Am Lupe (Hachette, 2023) is the first children's book published by a Tongan author in Australia. Her work has been published in SBS Voices, Colournary Magazine, Adda Magazine, and Story Casters. Sela was also selected for the Fresh Off the Books Fellowship with Sweatshop and NewSouth Publishing.
Dakota Feirer is a Bundjalung storyteller, working with a diversity of mediums to address Indigenous resurgence, masculinity, ecological and cultural repair. His work consists of poems, prose, performance and sound works with a focus on Indigenous knowledge and resilience in the 21st century.
Kerry Greer is an Irish-Australian poet and writer. She received the Venie Holmgren Prize for Environmental Poetry in 2021, and placed second in the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize in 2024. She holds an MFA in Poetry from Cedar Crest College. Her debut poetry collection, The Sea Chest, was published by Recent Work Press in 2023. Kerry is currently at work on her second poetry collection.
Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello OAM is a visual artist, poet and writer of Aboriginal (Lower Southern Arrernte), Chinese and Anglo-Celtic descent. Her poetry, prose and essays have been nationally and internationally. She lives and works on the unceded lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, Kamberri/Canberra Australia.
Rob Waters is a multidisciplinary artist working across poetry, storytelling, playwriting, cultural education, and spoken word. A Gomeroi man from Tamworth, now based on the Central Coast, he is a former Australian Poetry Slam Champion. With over two decades of experience, his work is powerful and culturally grounded, deeply connected to education, community, family, and activism, and he is committed to sharing stories that create understanding.
Misbah Wolf is a poet and musician living and working on Wurundjeri Country. Her work explores embodiment, psychic mapping, and archetypal language through somatic attention and symbolic process. She draws on mystic and poetic lineages while favouring compression, restraint, and intensity over explanation.
KEY INFO
Red Room Poetry Fellows Showcase
Date: Sunday 30 August 2026
Time: 2:00 - 3:00pm
FREE EVENT
VENUE, PARKING and ACCESS
This is a seated event.
Parking onsite is limited to individuals with access needs. Please email varuna@varuna.com.auto request a suitable parking spot.
Drivers can drop-off their passengers onsite and then move to the recommended parking area.
Recommended parking is curb-side on Cascade St (not Sherman Avenue) and walking to Varuna's main entry.
Varuna's driveway, car park and gardens are uneven and care is recommended when accessing the property at all times.
If you require T-loop, closed captions, Auslan interpreters or accessible parking, please contact Varuna directly on varuna@varuna.com.au or call 02 02 4782 5674 to speak to Erin English.