At Hunter Writers’ Centre, we live and work on the lands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, whose connection to Country includes a deep and enduring storytelling tradition. We recognise their continuing cultural impact and legacy, and we understand that storytelling is not neutral. The stories we tell—and the ones we exclude—carry weight.

Story is at the heart of everything we do. Our mission is to cultivate a storytelling and literary culture grounded in community, equity, and craft. We create pathways and opportunities for writers and artists to create and share stories that entertain, explore complexity, and deepen our understanding. Stories are powerful and we hold them with respect. They help us uncover purpose, interpret events, and understand our place within the broader human narrative. Storytelling is the lifeblood of communities, connecting us through shared experiences, cultural expression, and creativity.

As a cultural organisation, program provider and publisher, Hunter Writers’ Centre does not claim neutrality. We make choices. We select judges. We program events. We employ facilitators. We develop policy and processes. We strive for each choice to be informed by our values of respect, courage, belonging and empowerment.  

We value freedom of expression as a fundamental human right. We also recognise that freedom of expression has not been evenly distributed. Some voices have been elevated; others have been dismissed, excluded, or silenced. We uphold the right of artists to express diverse, complex, and even contradictory ideas. We are also committed to ensuring that historically marginalised voices are given space, respect, and meaningful inclusion in our cultural and literary landscape.

Hunter Writers’ Centre will never provide a platform for racism, hate speech, or bigotry. We believe in a literary and storytelling culture that reflects the world as it is—complicated and multifaceted, awash with beauty, ugliness, wonder, joy and heartbreak—and we take seriously our role in shaping that culture.

This work is ongoing. We remain open to critique and committed to learning. Storytelling is not static, and neither are we.