This subset came into being in 2008 as the team of researchers who had worked on the Writers of Tropical Queensland subset,based at James Cook University in Townsville, began opening up the comparatively unexplored literature associated with the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia as areas of specific AustLit research focus. They expect to discover many features that in general distinguish the literature of the Australian Tropics from works produced in more temperate southern zones, recording information by and about authors who were born in, lived in, visited or wrote about Australia north of the Tropic of Capricorn. It also includes information about journalists, columnists, editors, newspapers, periodicals and associated companies and individuals important to the cultural life of the region.

James Cook University under the direction of Associate Professor Cheryl Taylor of the School of Arts and Social Sciences takes major responsibility for maintaining and extending the subset, building on contributions from the Western Australian Literature and the Black Words subsets, and with the assistance of the Northern Territory Library .

Search the Writing the Tropical North subset.