I’ve known Panos Couros since the late ’70s we hung out a bit in Adelaide, and in the early 80s, we’d bump into each other in the Flinders University bar and fall into discussions about The Doors and Cassavetes.

We didn’t fit in the either skip or wog worlds of our peers. We talked more about Bowie and Eno as our mates, talked about AC/DC, Diana Ross and footy and soccer.

Panos and I lost touch and our lives, parallel trajectories, yet different intersect across the arts landscape every few years. Panos, a composer an ambient sound architect, an accomplished art manager, former General Manager of dLux Media Arts, Co-Artistic Director and Chair of the Brisbane Fringe and Program Manager at the Casula Powerhouse, is the Executive Director of Northern Territory’s Writers’ Centre. This year he directs the Darwin Writers Festival Wordstorm.

I bumped into him at the Adelaide Festival this summer in the foyer of the Festival Centre as we waited to enter the theatre for An Iliad, the theatrical adaptation of Homer’s Iliad.

“How many Greeks ya’ reckon are here tonight?” I ask.

“Two; you and me,” he said after a scan of the foyer.

“Nope, there are four more over there.” I point.

“Imports, from Greece” I said, “financial crisis refugees, middle class, go to theatre…”

Couros changes the subject, “Do a piece on the Darwin Writers Festival I’m directing, Wordstorm, you’ll like it one of the themes is, It’s Not Black and White, it looks at relationships between migrant and Aboriginal Australians.”

I agree, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal linkages have been for too long been mediated by the historical conflict between Anglo Irish, Germanic, white and black Australians.

Us, the not-so-white, the Greeks the Italians, the non-Europeans the Chinese, the Indians, Vietnamese and other cultural and linguistic groups that make up Australia, seem since the mid 90s, to be watching the ‘Black and White’ discussion from the sidelines.

Yet, multiculturalism and Aboriginal civil rights were born of the same root, and traveled the same road. In the 70s, and 80s multicultural and aboriginal rights, while advocated from separate camps, always met and agreed on the principles.

I agree to interview him and weeks later we’re on the phone.

“I want to explore the similarities that exist between us, the migrant communities here, especially those from societies that have a cultural affinity with our traditional people” Couros says.

“As a Greek I can see how alike our culture is with Australian First Nation’s cultures – our families, our humour, our communities…”

I cut in, “The cousins, aunties, uncles, the never ending family, the shame and the guilt, the fear of loss of face”.

“Yeah, all that…” Couros says.

There is an inherent tension; we as migrants, can also be great conduits in the imperial enterprises. We may not have ‘stolen the land’ but we bought it from those that did.

“We will look at all that, I think it’s the classic British divide and rule stuff… in fact I have a panel called that, Divide and Conquer, with Christos Tsiolkas and Alexis Wright and many others,” Couros talks with purpose.

Indigenous author Alexis Wright’s novel Carpentaria won five national literary awards, including the Miles Franklin Award. Her latest, The Swan Book was long-listed for this year’s Miles Franklin. Christos Tsiolkas’ Dead Europe secured his position as one of Australia’s pre-eminent contemporary novelists, The Slap, scored the Commonwealth Writers Prize, was short listed for the Miles Franklin Award and adapted for television by the ABC and will be soon adapted for the US market by NBC. His most recent book, Barracuda is an equally provocative novel about race and class today.

“Divide and Conquer is keeping us separate” Couros repeats.

“Possibly, but I am not convinced it is as simple as that now” I say, revealing for a moment how far I’ve travelled to the centre from those Uni days.
So we do what we did thirty years ago, we argue, debate and discuss and look for common ground.

Migrant aspiration to ‘do better’ to move up, to move into the centre, emboldens our ethnocentric superiority complex, and can also result in our own tailored racism. It’s the ‘look at us’, we suffered, we felt the pangs of racism, we were driven out, and the migrant makes good narrative.

On the other hand, if that pride, that drive, that aspiration, is shared, then our cultural similarities, between migrant and Aboriginal Australians if harnessed, in a diverse Australia, greater understanding and sharing of skills between immigrant and ‘Aboriginal Australians. Looking for unifying cultural traits.
“Shared experiences, of loss of land, exile, there are so many similarities to be found between immigrant and First Nation People in Australia. ” Couros says.

Then he plants signpost, “Greeks under occupation, stolen generations, racism…”

“Ethnic pride gone nuts!” I shout over the phone.

I’m enthused by the prospect. There is a role for greater cooperation between migrant and Aboriginal peoples, greater sharing of knowledge and skills.
“I want to explore home and belonging, I know how a person can have a connection with land, I found that connection intuitively when I visited Greece but I live here, I was born on First Nation People’s land.” says Couros.

“How do we, as a nation that has mainly migrated here – deal with this? How do we move forward on this issue?” he asks.

Since leaving Sydney, Couros, has come to realize that Darwin is not a city “defined or controlled solely by Anglos” he says.

“Darwin is mixed, Greek and Filipino, Aboriginal and Greek, and so on truly blended” ” he says.

“In some ways it is a bit futile having this conversation here in Darwin, the conversation needs to be had in other parts of Australia,” Couros adds.

“This year is the first time I’m directing Wordstorm and given I am not from the literary world, I steered the festival away from identity based more towards themes that make sense on a broader level.”

Wordstorm themes span culture, journalism, music, children’s literature new media, trans-media, and the graphic novel.

The festival looks at adaptation of literature to film and TV, with playwright and screenwriter Andrew Bovell; there is discussion of graphic novels in Graphic Fantasy with renowned graphic novelists Pat Grant and Simon Hanselmann.

“We talk about modern journalism in New Media Wars with independent journalist Antony Loewenstein, we even look at music in Rock Word with Bernard Zuel and Mark Mordue… the latter at work on a Nick Cave biography entitled Tender Prey ” says Couros.

Couros, the composer, has orchestrated an interesting word fest, a real Wordstorm in the north. Just maybe this sort of action may begin to forge again greater links between non-Anglo and Aboriginal Australians.

Wordfest runs between May 29 and June 1 for more information got to: http://wordstorm.org.au