Judith Nangala Crispin

I’m a Canberra-based poet and visual artist, with a background in music, living in Braidwood NSW.

I’ve published two collections of poetry, The Myrrh-Bearers (Sydney: Puncher & Wattmann, 2015), and photographs and poems made with the Warlpiri, The Lumen Seed (New York: Daylight Books, 2017). I’m a proud member of Oculi collective and an Artist in residence with Music Viva.

Since 2011, I have spent part of each year living and working with Warlpiri people in the Tanami desert. My work includes themes of displacement and identity loss, a reflection on my own Aboriginal ancestry, but primarily it is centred on the concept of connection with Country. I trace my ancestry to the Bpangerang people of North-Eastern Victoria and the NSW Riverina. I also trace ancestry to Ghana, Senegal, France, Ireland, Scotland and the Ivory Coast.

I have directed and worked on two major social justice research projects–The Julfa Project, which preserved photographic records of a destroyed Armenian cemetery and digitally reconstructed the site from new and existing images; and Kurdiji 1.0, an Aboriginal suicide prevention app, which strengthens resilience in young indigenous people by reconnecting them with community and culture.