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Ngandi guuga led me here, to this Country
ngandi maaraa raised me here, ngandi bamila bamila shared their knowledge

My goanna led me here, to this Country
my father raised me here, my Aunties share their knowledge
~ Nash, PIFL 2024 - Gundungurra

Celebrating, sharing and conserving knowledge of First Nations languages and culture through poetry in all its forms.

Poetry in First Languages (PIFL) commissions, publishes and delivers First Nations-led student poetry programs on Country and/or in First Nations community-led locations.

Celebrating culture through poetry, music, dance and art, PIFL aims to support students to find strength in their cultural identities through language learning and connecting to Country, Culture and Community with the intention of enhancing overall wellbeing and knowledge.

Developed and launched at Red Room Poetry by Gunai poet Kirli Saunders in 2018, and now stewarded by Warrimay poet and musician Nicole Smede, PIFL is for First Nations Community, guided and shaped for their needs, lead by Elders, Custodians and First Nations artists across the nation.

Words woven for Healing - Bowral Hospital Project

In partnership with NSW Health and Infrastructure, Ngununggula, and Poetry in First Languages the Gundungurra First Nations community, Elders and students are creating a collaborative poetic artwork for Bowral Hospital.

Poetry and art workshops led by award-winning poet Kirli Saunders OAM, Elder Aunty Sharyn Halls and Community Cultural Educator Mel Wiya, will weave community contributions of poems and visual motifs responding to place, in and around Bowral Hospital.

Final artwork will be installed late April 2024, with a full suite of poems from Community, secondary and primary students published and celebrated during NAIDOC week, July 2024.

Poets

Explore more Poetry in First Languages Projects

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    Baraya Barray - Whale Song

    Baraya Barray ~ Whale Song brings celebrates saltwater songlines of the East Coast through On Country immersive experiences, to learn about and respond to our original language holders - the Whales.
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    For Our Elders NAIDOC Learning Resource

    Celebrating the 2023 NAIDOC Theme ‘For our Elders’, Poetry in First Languages is honouring and highlighting Elders through new poem commissions and a new curriculum-aligned learning resource

Poetry in First Languages (PIFL) addresses a clear gap in the educational and cultural offer for First Nations students in NSW. The program was a one-of-kind opportunity for almost all of the First Nations participants. 95% of the schools and communities involved in PIFL had no other access to First Nations language programs.

~ BYP Group, Independent Evaluation, 2019 (read the report here)

"PIFL has a deep impact on students by helping fulfil an empty void inside them created by dispossession of language which has great benefits for their spiritual and mental health. It engages Indigenous youth to connect with local Elders and language custodians/knowledge holders creating connections within the community which establishes clear pathways for students to seek cultural teachings outside of the project."

~ Declan Furber Gillick, poet and facilitator

Partners and Supporters