With Country, I am better, healthier, whole.
I am indebted to the living cultures of the Gundangara, Ngunnawal and Ngamabri peoples. It is with land, air and water that I live and create. My being is given endless meaning by this place. For that, I am thankful beyond words can say.
Always was. Always will be.
Voice. Treaty. Truth.
Nigel Featherstone is an Australian novelist, playwright, librettist, freelancer, and music maker. His most recent work is The Wreck Event, a 16-song spokenword-and-music album under the moniker Hell Herons in collaboration with award-winning poets Melinda Smith, Stuart Barnes, and CJ Bowerbird. Nigel’s most recent novel, My Heart is a Little Wild Thing, was published by Ultimo Press (Hardie Grant) in 2022. It has been described as ‘Epic in its intimacy–a triumph of a book’ (Peter Polites), ‘A remarkable look at Australian masculinity and its meaning’ (Newtown Review of Books), and ‘Yearning and intimate’ (West Australian). Nigel’s war novel, Bodies of Men, was published by Hachette Australia in 2019. It was longlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize, shortlisted for the 2020 ACT Book of the Year, shortlisted in the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards, and received a 2019 Canberra Critics Circle Award. His short stories have appeared in numerous literary journals such as the Review of Australian Fiction, Meanjin, Overland, and Island. Nigel also writes for the stage: as commissioned by the Hume Conservatorium, he wrote the libretto for The Weight of Light (music by James Humberstone), which was developed by The Street Theatre and had its world premiere in 2018. His play with spokenword songs, The Story of the Oars, is in the final stage of development, also by The Street Theatre. As a freelancer, Nigel’s work has appeared in a variety of mastheads and journals, including the Sydney Morning Herald, Guardian Australia, and the Chicago Quarterly Review. He has been supported by artsACT, Create NSW, and Creative Australia. In 2022, Nigel was named the ACT Artist of the Year.
More detail below.
1.
Nigel Featherstone’s most recent work is The Wreck Event, a 16-song spokenword-and-music album by Hell Herons together with award-winning poets/peformers/makers Melinda Smith, Stuart Barnes, and CJ Bowerbird. Thanks to funding from artsACT, and with distribution support of GYROstream, The Wreck Event was released on 29 June 2024 via all major streaming services as well as Bandcamp. Hell Herons have been described as ‘A spoken-word + EDM supergroup’ by BMA Magazine. According to Whispering Gums, the album is ‘Charismatic and enigmatic…beautiful and mesmerising’ and ‘The Wreck Event is both wreck and event, destroying boundaries between poetry and music in a way song doesn’t always manage while marking another milestone in Australian poetic practice. It’s also, quite simply, beautiful’ according to Writing West Australia.
2.
Nigel’s latest novel is My Heart is a Little Wild Thing, which was published by Ultimo Press (an imprint of Hardie Grant) in May 2022. The novel has been described as ‘A devastatingly emotional but ultimately hopeful exploration of love, family and place–a compelling and moving read’ (ArtsHub), ‘Yearning and intimate’ (West Australian), ‘Epic in its intimacy–a triumph of a book’ (Peter Polites), ‘A remarkable look at Australian masculinity and its meaning’ (Newtown Review of Books), ‘Powerful, tender, visceral and sublime–a must-read piece of Australian literature’ (Holden Sheppard), ‘A poignant and ultimately hopeful novel’ (Delia Falconer), and ‘With My Heart is a Little Wild Thing, Featherstone has cemented his talent and allowed us an intimate view into another person’s heart–it is a gift’ (Readings). The novel received a 2022 Canberra Critics Circle Award.
3.
Nigel’s earlier novel, Bodies of Men, was published by Hachette Australia in 2019 and has been described as ‘A thoroughly humanising depiction of Australians during World War II’ (Australian Book Review), ‘A remarkable story–action at break-neck speed and a bitter-sweet ending’ (Canberra Times), ‘A timeless novel of love between men in wartime’ (Newtown Review of Books), and ‘A page-turner underpinned by a fundamental understanding of humanity’ (Whispering Gums). Bodies of Men was longlisted for the 2020 ARA Historical Novel Prize, runner up for the 2020 ACT Book of the Year, shortlisted in the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards and received a 2019 Canberra Critics Circle Award.
4.
Nigel’s debut novel, Remnants, was published by Pandanus Books in 2005: ‘Featherstone is the inheritor of one of Australia’s greatest articulators of Australian middle class, Randolph Stow; he is like Stow too, in his rejection of the larger-than-life characterisation for the precision of a finely drawn reality’ (Wet Ink).
5.
Nigel is the author of three thematically linked, limited-print-run novellas: The Beach Volcano (Blemish Books, 2014), which was described as ‘Elegant and original’ (Sydney Morning Herald), ‘Accomplished–an intense fiction range’ (Canberra Times), and ‘Utterly enthralling’ (Newtown Review of Books); I’m Ready Now (Blemish Books, 2012), which was short-listed for the 2013 ACT Book of the Year; and Fall on Me (Blemish Books, 2011).
6.
Nigel is also the author of nearly 50 short stories published in Australian literary journals including the Review of Australian Fiction, Meanjin, Island, and Overland. His collected stories are Joy (2000) and Homelife (1999).
7.
Nigel has written over 120 creative non-fiction stories, which have been published in outlets such as The Guardian Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Canberra Times, and The Millions. His commissioned essay on the audacity of Christos Tsiolkas appears in Reading like an Australian Writer, which was published by New South Books in 2021. His commissioned essay about his family life and childhood in the Blue Mountains was published in the Australasian Issue of the Chicago Quarterly Review (2020). In 2020 the Tuggeranong Arts Centre in the ACT commissioned Nigel to write about his father, the visual artist Jack Featherstone, to accompany a major exhibition and short film of the latter’s work; the essay was published in 2021 as an ephemeral, multi-media digital essay titled ‘The Gift of a Father’ and designed by Australian visual artist Katy Mutton. The text for this essay is available on request.
8.
In 2014 the Hume Conservatorium commissioned Nigel to write the libretto for an original song cycle, with the music composed by James Humberstone from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. This work, titled The Weight of Light, was developed by The Street Theatre in Canberra and had its world premiere in the national capital in March 2018; it was also performed at the Sydney Conservatorium (July 2018) and the Hume Conservatorium (March 2018). ‘An enthralling visual and aural experience’ (Australian Arts Review), ‘A stunning piece of work–bravo’ (Sydney Voice Project), and ‘A gem of a piece’ (Canberra Times). The work received a 2018 Canberra Critics Circle Award.
9.
In May 2020, Nigel’s first full-length play with spoken-word songs, The Story of the Oars, underwent an extensive creative development at The Street Theatre through its First Seen program in 2020. Thanks to support, from both Create NSW and The Street Theatre, from 2021 to 2023 this work was further developed, especially in terms of the score, which is being arranged by composer Jay Cameron, based in part on song sketches written by Nigel. Having secured generous funding from artsACT, The Story of the Oars underwent a final creative development at The Street Theatre in late 2024.
10.
In 2013 Nigel was a writer-in-residence at UNSW Canberra, which provides the campus for the Australian Defence Force Academy. He has also held residencies at Varuna (Blue Mountains, NSW), Bundanon (Shoalhaven River, NSW), and the Cataract Gorge Gatekeeper’s Cottage (Launceston, Tasmania). Along with novelists Robyn Cadwallader and Julie Keys, Nigel was awarded the inaugural 2020 Write North Residency, an initiative of the Byron Writers Festival.
11.
At the 2022 ACT Arts Awards, held at the Canberra Museum of Gallery, Nigel was named the ACT Artist of the Year.
12.
Nigel has received generous funding from artsACT, Create NSW, and Creative Australia (formerly the Australia Council for the Arts).
13.
A queer man, Nigel lives with unceded Gundangara Country, otherwise known as the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, and spends considerable time in Canberra–unceded Ngunnawal Country.
14.
He is represented by Gaby Naher, The Naher Agency, Sydney.
~
Image credits: photograph of Nigel on the home page is by Philip Le Masurier (2024); photograph of Nigel above by Shelly Higgs (2024).