Berlin, the Spree River and other Happy Flows
I am currently in Berlin participating in the Time to Listen - Multispecies Creativity in Music and Sound Conference with colleagues from The University of Sydney. Gradually, I have come to know this wondrous city thanks to many meanderings along the river and further afield. Spreeklänge, 'a musical path by the water' saw twelve deadly artists from around the globe create work informed by and performed with the river. It was a real privilege to have these sounds flow around and through me as I walked and I am full of admiration and thanks to my fellow travellers, Elision Ensemble and Kate Milligan under the guidance of my wonderful boss, composer Liza Lim. With both Kate and Liza, I was part of the keynote address, and also lead an opening yarn at the start of the conference. Before I head home I will squeeze in a quick trip to Geneva to visit Ensemble Contrechamps in readiness for a return residency with them in January 2027.
In the next few months Stiff Gins are gearing up for appearances at Burramatta NAIDOC, the NIMA's (National Indigenous Music Awards) and gigs at the River Folk Festival, Warburton, VIC, Bundanoon Folk Festival NSW and a special performance at The Church, Alexandria. Check out the events section for further info. Auf wiedersehen!
NEWS
I'm continuing to weave creative strands together with a lot of project work in a few different fields. Stiff Gins continue to go from strength to strength with regular gigs as a trio and six piece band. It is so wonderful to be able to weave harmonies with some amazing players which include our long time friend and collaborator Syd Green. This wonderful musical partnership will continue as we have confirmed with Syd the recording of Stiff Gins fifth studio album in December! Keep an eye out for further news towards the end of the year.
In July I will be working with Syd and Elision Ensemble on a project entitled 'Nan's Orchestra.' My beautiful grandmother Bertha Sands is dhinawan dhinggaa - emu totem. I wanted not only make music celebrating her but with her so Nan's Orchestra will feature orchestral instruments with emu interventions- trumpets with emu bone extensions, cellos with sinew strings, flutes with bone mouthpieces, emu egg shakers, feather mallets, etc. In July I will undertake period of development of the instruments and music. It's definitely one of the most ambitious projects I have ever created but with Syd's instrument making, Elision's musical expertise and Nan looking down I can't wait to see what arises.
Courtesy of a partnership with State Opera South Australia September will see the world premiere of my baby Opera 'Piccolini-gu.' I have had a wonderful time developing the music and cultural language for Australia's first ever opera for babies. Development is over and the team head into rehearsals before a launch in Adelaide. This work is very special to me - it explores a Yuwaalaraay story about friendship a Bilby has with the Wind and I can't wait to sit on the floor and immerse myself in a world of song, story, culture and most importantly, birralii-dhuul (little ones).
On the writing front I cannot wait to head to the 2026 First Nations Literary Festival: EVERY:WHEN in September. It will be an explosion of deadliness- words about us, our way. There's sure to be something for everyone in the upcoming program. It truely is a celebration of Blak excellence.
Finally I'll be hitting the road with Ensemble Offspring for some performances of my work 'Freshwater Woman.'. We'll be performing at Four Winds, Bundanon & Newcastle (NSW) and in Adelaide. Check out the nets page for further details.
NOVELS
the belburd
'Mothers are experts at overflow . . . You may forget the words or kisses or gifts they give but that doesn't mean they didn't happen . . . We don't need to remember all the love poured into us. We need to be thankful that it makes us. When it comes to love, it's all about being. Not remembering so much.'
Ginny Dilboong is a young poet, fierce and deadly. She's making sense of the world and her place in it, grappling with love, family and the spaces in which to create her art. Like powerful women before her, Ginny hugs the edges of waterways, and though she is a daughter of Country, the place that shapes her is not hers. Determined and brave, Ginny seeks to protect the truth of others while learning her own. The question is how?
And, all the while, others are watching. Some old, some new. They are the sound of the belburd as it echoes through the world; the sound of cars and trucks and trains. They are in trees and paper and the shape of ideas. They are the builder and the built. Everything, even Ginny, is because of them.
The Belburd is a powerful story that shows us we are all connected from before we began to long after we begin again.
SONG OF THE CROCODILE
"Darnmoor, The Gateway to Happiness. You feel some sense of achievement; that you have reached a destination in the very least. Yet, as the sign states, Darnmoor is merely the measure, a mark, a point on the road you begin to move closer to where you really want to be. Darnmoor itself is nothing."
Darnmoor is the home of the Billymil family, three generations who have lived in this 'gateway town'. Race relations between Indigenous and settler families are fraught, though the rigid status quo is upheld through threats and soft power rather than the overt violence of yesteryear.
As progress marches forwards, Darnmoor and its surrounds undergo rapid social and environmental changes, but as some things change, some stay exactly the same. The Billymil family are watched (and sometimes visited) by ancestral spirits and spirits of the recently deceased, who look out for their descendants and attempt to help them on the right path.
When the town's secrets start to be uncovered the town will be rocked by a violent act that forever shatters a century of silence. Full of music, Yuwaalaraay language and exquisite description, Song of the Crocodile is a lament to choice and change, and the unyielding land that sustains us all, if only we could listen to it.
CONTRIBUTIONS
'Yilaalu' in The Gifts of Reading for the Next Generation available here
'Yilaalu' in Word to Sing the World Alive available here
Artists’ Perspectives Ngarra-burria Indigenous Composers and Their Interventions in Art Music Practice, cowritten with Dr Chris Sainsbury available here
"Yilaalu, Bigan and Warran," Co written with Tracey Cameron and Priscilla Strasek in Another Australia available here
'Gifts Across Space and Time; Journeying in a Speak/Listen Trade,' in Griffith Review Remaking the Balance available here
BLOG
EVENTS
BIO
Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay storyteller and performer living in Sydney. Training as a musician, Nardi began her artistic journey as a songwriter and performer with vocal duo Stiff Gins. This has seen her travel both nationally and internationally for over twenty-five years releasing four albums, two singles, and countless compliations during that time.
Nardi was a winner of the 2018 Black & Write! Fellowship for a manuscript that would eventually becoe her first novel, 'Song of the Crocodile.' Published in 2020 by Hachette Australia, Song of the Crocodile won the 2021 ASAL Gold Medal and was long listed for the 2021 Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Awards. Nardi's second novel 'the belburd' was published by Hachette in October 2024.
Nardi has composed work for Ensemble Offspring, State Opera South Australia, Sydney Chamber Choir and Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Her work -barra was a feature of the 2022 Sydney Festival and has travelled to Darwin Arts Festival, Adelaide Nexus Festival as well as been performed in Berlin and Finland. She was composed for Short Black Opera and Switzerland's Ensemble Contrechamps.
Nardi works with student ensembles and directs cross-cultural choir Barayagal at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Sydney Conservatoriun of Music and remains committed and active in the making and sharing of culture, music and story in both her Sydney and Yuwaalaraay communities.
Photo courtesy of Bec Lewis
IN THE PRESS
the belburd
Written with the same lyrical prowess and evocative tone as her award-winning debut, Song of the Crocodile, Yuwaalaraay storyteller Nardi Simpson's second novel, the belburd, is a powerful ode to the interconnectedness of everything and the creation of life.
With a lyrical mastery only further cultivated since her debut, Song of the Crocodile, Simpson finds the sublime in the quotidian, elevating experiences (as base as being born or dying, as complex as grief or motherhood) to an art form. She shows that life is a series of becomings, experienced by humans and animals and the world alike – we all become together.
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LISA SCHUURMAN
BOOKS + PUBLISHING
TEDDY PEAK
READINGS
Song of the Crocodile
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Rich, complex characters who’ll stay in your thoughts long after you’ve closed the book, a gripping story that moves effortlessly through time and space, and a voice suffused with music and warmth. SONG OF THE CROCODILE is a moving, wise, deeply rewarding novel from an astonishing writer.
Simpson doesn’t shy away from the complexity and nuance of the characters, who are at once survivors, victims and perpetrators of trauma grounded in dispossession and injustice. However, nor does she deny these characters joy and meaning in their lives – bringing their stories to the page with great tenderness and lyricism. This book is necessary reading for all Australians.
It’s hard not to drown Song of the Crocodile in awed praise but this book deserves every skerrick of hype. That it is Simpson’s debut feels like a magnificent question: what else might she bring us? For now, just surrender to her storytelling, rich with Yuwaalaraay language and song.
EMILY MAGUIRE,
AUTHOR OF AN INSOLATED INCIDENT
BEEJAY SILCOX
THE GUARDIAN
STELLA PRIZE JUDGES' REPORT
MUSIC
Musician
As a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter with Indigenous duo Stiff Gins, Nardi has performed and travelled nationally and internationally for the past 27 years. Meeting in 1997 at the Eora Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Visual and Performing Arts in Redfern, Sydney, Stiff Gins have toured the US, UK, Middle East, Africa and the pacific and have released three albums, 2 singles and an EP. Stiff Gins continue to perform at festivals throughout Australia.Thanks to funding from Sound NSW Stiff Gins are currently recording their fourth studio album. It is due for release in April 2025. You can buy Stiff Gins latest album 'Crossroads' on bandcamp and other band merchandise here.
Composer
Nardi is a graduate of Ngarra Burria First People’s Composers - a partnership with Mooghalin Performing Arts Inc, ANU School of Music, The Australian Music Centre and Ensemble Offspring. Her commissions include works for ABC Music's Fresh Start Program, the Royal Australian Navy Band and Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Nardi has been Composer in Residence at The Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Monash Classical Music Department and Ensemble Offspring and is currently composing work for three new First Nations Operas. Listen to Nardi's work with Ngarra Burria here. You can also watch Nardi's 2022 Sydney Festival show -barra, featuring 70mins of original story and composition here.
Choir Director
Nardi is the current director of Barayagal- a community choir that brings together First Nations and non-Indigenous people to sing and share language, music and culture. Barayagal is a partnership between the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, YARN Australia, Metro Local Aboriginal Land Council and Redfern Community Centre. Stay connected to Barayagal's instagram to learn more out about gigs, rehearsals and tours.
FEATURES
Here you can explore recent podcasts, guest articles, interviews and revies and online content to do with Nardi's writing and musical world.
