The NT Writers Festival will take place in Darwin this year from May 28 to 31 at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, with this year’s festival aiming to provide a series of immersive events that organisers say is “the perfect antidote to the isolation of doom-scrolling”.

This year’s theme, “Navigating,” shifts the focus from traditional panel discussions to community co-creation and immersive experiences, organisers say, which will see a “pop-up archive of resilience and hope” in the creation of a “Story Shrine” that will serve as a participatory art installation at the festival hub, guided by Kelly Lee Hickey.

Festival artistic director Louise Omer said this year’s audiences will discover a wide range of face-to-face participatory encounters.

“Rather than just creating events that are similar to what you can passively stream online, our attendees will co-create a sense of belonging IRL,” she said.

This year’s Writers Festival is transforming the literary festival scene through several initiatives that aim to enhance the attendee experience. Overall, it aims to create a rich environment where literature and culture coexist, Ms Omer said.

Highlights of this year’s festival include a workshop of “imaginative mapmaking” led by award-winning theatremaker and artist Alyson Evans; the Darwin Beach Choir filling the festival with song; and the cornerstone Saturday night event called “Waves of Belonging” led by novelist and poet Omar Musa, fresh off his longlisting for the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

“Curated by expert musician and producer James Mangohig, we have a powerful lineup of musicians and storytellers for a night of poetry and song,” Ms Omer said.

“Omar Musa and Joelistics join locals Cyan Sue-Lee and Grace Dong for a dynamic evening of mindblowing performance and magical creativity that celebrates the deep ties that connect South Asia and the Top End.”

Actor and author Zoe Terakes, whose book Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers, will take festivalgoers through erotica reading at an event called Hot Nights, that will also see the Territory’s best romance writers assemble for “a spicy night of lust, longing and a little bit of smut”.

Another immersive event will see the Larrakia Story Walk, which takes an intimate audience on a stroll along the Gurambai Cultural Trail accompanied by First Nations storytellers.

There will also be a an “intimate encounter” at Snakebean Community Garden hosted by Gardening Australia presenter Hannah Moloney, which will explore themes from her new book about the “life-changing beauty of gardening”.

The Writers Festival will also be hosting panels with meaningful conversations and whole-day workshops focused on the craft of storytelling.

A panel exploring censorship in the arts will also be held with Palestinian author Micaela Sahhar, Wirandjuri writer Jeanine Leane and Chinese Australian theatremaker and rapper Joel Ma.

The festival will also see the official launch of the book The Good Sea by Vanessa Hearman, about the 18 East Timorese asylum seekers who sailed to Darwin in a small wooden fishing boat in May 1995. The book will be launched with one of the activists from the boat, Jose da Costa, and the lawyer for the Tasi Diak group in Darwin, Colin McDonald.

Tickets are on sale at ntwriters.com.au which includes Festival passes, day passes and event series passes.