Ziggy Ramo is an award-winning artist of Wik and Solomon Islander heritage, whose work spans music, literature, film, and performance. From his acclaimed debut Black Thoughts to his ARIA-charting project and book Human?, he continues to push creative and cultural boundaries. This year, Ramo brings his powerful voice and vision to Byron Writers Festival.
In Human? you delve deeply into the dehumanisation faced by Indigenous Australians. How do you see your book contributing to the broader conversation about reconciliation and justice in Australia?
I wrote Human? to invite readers to sit with discomfort and to reckon with the ways our systems continue to dehumanise Indigenous people. My hope is that the book can be a bridge not in the sense of offering simple solutions, but in creating space for honest reflection and accountability. Reconciliation isn’t a passive process; it requires active listening and action.
As someone working across mediums – music, literature, screen – how does your creative process shift depending on the form you’re working in, and what does each medium allow you to express?
Each medium has its own heartbeat. Music allows me to distill emotion into moments it’s immediate, it hits you in the gut. Literature gives me the space to slow down, to expand on ideas and interrogate nuance. Screen work invites collaboration and the power of visual storytelling to bring people inside a world. My process shifts with each form, but at the core, I’m always trying to tell stories that connect. It’s about choosing the right vessel for the story I need to tell.
What can we expect from the Byron Writers Festival sessions?
You can expect honest, vulnerable conversations. My aim is always to connect, to challenge, and to hold space for difficult but necessary dialogue. I’m interested in exploring what it means to truly see each other’s humanity and reckon with the uncomfortable truths of our history. Both sessions will be an opportunity to listen, reflect, and hopefully walk away with a deeper sense of a unique lived experience.
The theme for Byron Writers Festival is Passion and Purpose. How do you define passion and purpose, and how does this shape you as a writer?
For me, passion is the fire, the thing that compels me to keep creating, even when it’s hard. Purpose is the direction it’s about knowing why I do what I do. As a writer, my passion comes from love for my culture, but my purpose is in seeking truth telling for my community. When passion and purpose are aligned, the work feels inevitable. That’s what keeps me grounded.
Ziggy Ramo appears at Byron Writers Festival:
- Saturday 9 August, 7:30pm – 9:00pm, A&I Hall:
Beyond the Lines - Sunday 10 August, 10:15am – 11:15am, Melaleuca:
Human? In Conversation with Rhoda Roberts
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
