Author: Julie Janson.
Publisher: Magabala books. (2020).
Genre: Historical Fiction.
Awards: LONGLISTED, 2020 Mark & Evette Moran Nib Literary Award.
Annotation.
'You not waibala, you not blackfella. You in between..'
A historical fiction novel about the first contact told through the lens of a courageous Darug woman - protagonist Muraging. It intensely captures the impact of British colonisation from an Indigenous perspective. It allows readers to walk a mile in someone else's shoes - in Muraging's shoes. The book has a mesmeric and cataclysmic effect on its readers. Set between the years 1816-35, a mixture of historical events and coming of age. the psychological and moral growth of a woman during a turbulent historical time of survival and resistance.
Tabs Colonisation · Aboriginal Identity · Coming of age · Family · Resistance.
Other titles by the author.
Author: Alexis Wright.
Publisher: Giramonda Publishing. (2006).
Genre: Novel, Literary Fiction.
Awards: Miles Franklin Award. Australia's Premier Literary Prize.
Annotation.
'Operatic and surreal: a blend of myth and scripture, farce and politics'
The second novel by Australia's well-known Aboriginal writer Alexis Wright. The narrative of Carpentaria chronicles and seamlessly interweaves characters living on the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland. Set in the sparsely populated coastal town of Desperance. The novel centre on the conflict between families, communities and the challenges against a mining corporation on sacred land. A reader will be rewarded by an author with an all-at-once familiar and notably new literary style.
if you are looking for a book with characters such as an outcast saviour, a religious zealot, a murderous major, a moth-ridden captain, the activist, and prodigal son? then this one is for you.
Tabs Conflict · Community · Conflict · Family · Substance Abuse.
Other titles by the author.
Author: Tara June Winch.
Publisher: University of Queensland Press. (2003).
Genre: Coming-of-age story, Domestic Fiction.
Awards: 2020 Miles Franklin Award, 2004 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, 2006 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for indigenous writing, 2007 Dobbie Award, 2007 New South Wales Premier’s Literary UTS Award for New Writing, the Sydney Morning Herald's 2007 Best Young Australian Novelist Award and the 2008 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Annotation.
'It's an odd thing, a backyard, a little strip of nature, a little reminder of the rest of it, elsewhere'
The debut novel by first nation author Tara June Winch. Published in 2006. The novel draws on Winch’s mixed background and the geographical spaces she grew up in. The writing style is lyrically influenced by poetry, music, and often narrates between happy and disturbing memories. The protagonist is searching for her people, her history, connection to place, and attempts to find where she ultimately belongs. The book is an intensely relevant journey of discovery.
Tabs Ethnicity · Aboriginal Identity · History · Family · Belong.
Other titles by the author.
Author: Terri Janke.
Publisher: Penguin eBooks. (2005).
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, General & Literary Fiction
Awards:
Annotation.
'A lost family heirloom, a butterfly brooch carved from a shell by Tarena’s grandfather, its significance in the life of a family through the generations'
Butterfly Song is an enjoyable novel and offers a rare glimpse into a small piece of Australia’s diverse cultural history of the Torres Strait Islander people. A part love story and crime story. It offers historical insights into indigenous title law (Mabo), and the experiences of Indigenous Australians through several decades.
Tabs family and place · sense of belonging
Other titles by the author.
Author: Anita Heiss.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia. (2016).
Genre: Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction.
Awards: Finalist Queensland Literary Award 2017, Longlisted in the Dublin Literary Awards 2017.
Annotation.
'A story about a love that transcends all boundaries'
Award-winning Wiradjuri nation author Dr. Anita Heiss's book spans the Cowra breakout in 1944 and the end of WWII in 1945. Touching on issues of human rights, and how the government policies of the time affected different cultures in different ways.
Tabs Identity
Other titles by the author.
Author: Fiona Wirrer-George Oochunyung.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia. (2016).
Genre: Memoir, Adult Fiction.
Awards: Finalist Queensland Literary Award 2017, Longlisted in the Dublin Literary Awards 2017.
Annotation.
'Missing piece of her life was her father. As a young woman, she finds her father and carves out a fragile relationship with him. Inspiring her to better understand her Austrian ancestry and how it meshes with her Indigenous identity
Based in Brisbane, Cairns, and Weipa. The author is a Mbaiwan woman and a father of Austrian origin, who writes under the Aboriginal name Oochunyung. She has written Whisper of this Wik woman, and children book's Sandbeach girls and Looking for Yams. Currently completing a Ph.D. at James Cook University.
Tabs Aboriginal Identity
Other titles by the author.
Author: Tony Birch.
Publisher: University of Queensland Press. (2019).
Genre: Adult Fiction, General.
Awards: Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing.
Annotation.
''Odette, be sensible. Sissy cannot leave this town....it's not as if your Sissy is a white girl'
Experience of stolen generation trauma is the background to this fiction novel. Tony Birch is also the author of Shadowboxing and three short story collections. Readers will encounter vivid and memorable characters exploring love, courage, and reminder of the human spirit.
Tabs Aboriginal identity
Other titles by the author.
Author: Melissa Lucashenko.
Publisher: University of Queensland Press. (2020).
Genre: Adult Fiction, General.
Awards: The Dobbie Literary Award, Short NSW Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing, Regional Commonwealth Writer's Prize.
Annotation.
'Too much lip, her old problem from way back. And the older she got, the harder it seemed to get to swallow her opinions'
Published books with UQP since 1997 - Lucashenko an author of Bundjalung and European heritage. She has written books for teenagers. The novel is a dark comedy about ordinary people, set in a fictional Australian regional community. The reader meets the character and protagonist, Kerry, as she enters town on a stolen Harley motorbike. Her visit is prompted by the sudden death of a man who is both admired and feared. Through her eyes, we are taken on a journey through this small town and its secrets.
Tabs Aboriginal identity
Other titles by the author.
Author: Ambelin Kwaymullina, Ezekiel Kwaymullina.
Publisher: A & U Publishing. (2018).
Genre: Young Adult Fiction.
Awards: Best Young Adult Novel.
Annotation.
'One filled with evocative imagery. Beth's attackers are presented as literal monsters, stealing away her colours and leaving her grey and without hope'
The authors are a brother-sister team of first nation writers from the Palyku clan from the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The novel has a ghost as the leading narrator is an early flag that the book deals with dark material and themes. It covers issues of rape, racism, and murder.
Tabs Aboriginal identity
Other titles by the author.
Author: Gary Lonesborough.
Publisher: Allen & Unwin. (2021).
Genre: Young Adult fiction.
Awards:
Annotation.
A wonderful coming-of-age story by Gary Lonesborough. It is a Young Adult book about first love, community, and coming out as LGBT. The author is a young Yuin man. This is his debut book. Lonesborough has written a compelling, tender, gentle romance shared between two first nation men.
Tabs LGBT
Other recommended titles by first nation writers.
