Jane Harrison steps down from Blak & Bright

Blak & Bright has announced that Jane Harrison has stepped down from her role as artistic director and CEO.

Harrison has been in the role since the four-day First Nations literary festival was established in 2016, delivering four festivals and programming over 240 First Nations writers and storytellers.

In a farewell message to supporters, Harrison said: ‘Being the artistic director at Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival since 2016 has been a highlight of my working career but now it is time for me to step down and hand the reins on to someone new, who will take the organisation to the next level.’

Harrison added that Blak & Bright had recently incorporated as a non-for-profit organisation, had secured multi-year Creative Australia funding, and ‘is well placed to deliver year-round activities in 2025 and the next festival in 2026’. Harrison said the organisation has established a recruitment process to seek a new CEO/artistic director. Applications for the role are now open, with a closing date of 15 July.

‘We thank Jane for her extraordinary vision and tremendous contribution to Blak literature,’ said Blak & Bright. ‘The festival has come a long way since 2016, and this is no doubt a strong reflection of Jane’s passion and commitment to First Nations storytelling.’

Category: Local news