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'A brave young man travels the seas in the abdomen of a large whale ("mamang"). The man squeezes the heart of the whale and the old song he sings spurs it on to take him on a very special journey. It transports him far west of his home country, where his life is changed forever.
'This book is inspired by a story Freddie Winmer told the American linguist Gerhardt Laves at Albany, Western Australia, around 1931. It has been workshopped in a series of community meetings, which included some of Freddie Winmer's contemporary family.
'This story, told in old Noongar, contemporary Noongar and English, captures the deep spiritual connection of the Wirlomin people with the sea.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Prepared under the direction of the the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project Incorporated ; retelling by Kim Scott and Iris Woods ; illustrations by Jeffrey Farmer, Helen Nelly and Roma Winmar (Yibiyung); English text by Kim Scott.
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To download a reading of this story go to www.wirlomin.com.au and follow the prompts.
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Book launched at the Albany Entertainment Centre on Friday, 16 September 2011. Iris Woods and Kim Scott spoke at the launch, which featured Lester Coyne as MC.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- also app at itunes (https://itunes.apple.com); and Google Play (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.writingwa.mamang)
Works about this Work
-
Literacy the Goal of New WA Book Apps
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 8 April no. 598 2015; (p. 29) -
Not so Easy
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Griffith Review , no. 47 2015; (p. 200-214)'A young man - scarcely more than a boy - stands on a rock beside the deep sea. A whale surfaces next to him, almost within reach. I can't say if the boy knows the whale, but he knows of the whale: all his life he's watched families of them travel along this coast. Recently, he learned the words of one such journey.' (Publication abstract)
-
Finding a Place in Story : Kim Scott’s Writing and the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;'In True Country, the narrator draws the reader close and says, “You listen to me. We’re gunna make a story, true story. You might find it’s here you belong. A place like this.” (15) Although the narrator speaks of ‘(a) place like this’ as “a beautiful place (…). Call it our country, our country all ‘round here” (15), belonging, for the reader, for the characters in each of Scott’s novels, and for Scott himself, is more than settling into a physical environment, belonging is finding a place in the story.
'Mamang, Noongar Mambara Bakitj, Dwoort Baal Kaat, and Yira Boornak Nyininy are major achievements in Scott and The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project’s process of returning, restoring and rejuvenating language and story within the Noongar community and for an ever-widening public. In their form, content and intent, the stories renegotiate ideas of place and placement, confronting personal, cultural and linguistic dislocations in Noongar lives as well as an ambivalent narrative landscape in which language and story are central to both a lingering colonialism and the process of decolonisation.' (Publication abstract)
-
A Voice for His Country
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 May 2013; (p. 26) 'Prize-winning author Kim Scott is helping drive a project to revive his traditional language, writes Victoria Laurie.' -
Hanging On
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 338 2012; (p. 63-64)
— Review of Mamang 2011 single work picture book ; Noongar Mambara Bakitj 2011 single work picture book
-
Untitled
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , August vol. 91 no. 2 2011; (p. 32)
— Review of Mamang 2011 single work picture book ; Noongar Mambara Bakitj 2011 single work picture book -
Untitled
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Fiction Focus : New Titles for Teenagers , vol. 25 no. 4 2011; (p. 41)
— Review of Mamang 2011 single work picture book ; Noongar Mambara Bakitj 2011 single work picture book -
Hanging On
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 338 2012; (p. 63-64)
— Review of Mamang 2011 single work picture book ; Noongar Mambara Bakitj 2011 single work picture book -
Stories from the Elders
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Inside History , November/December no. 7 2011; (p. 64-66) 'A new series of books by author Kim Scott and the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project in Western Australia sees old stories rediscovered and reshaped to be passed on to a new audience. Paula Grunseit speaks with Scott, twice winner of the Miles Franklin award, about language regeneration, loss, connection, and the sharing of stories.' (p 64)
-
A Voice for His Country
2013
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 May 2013; (p. 26) 'Prize-winning author Kim Scott is helping drive a project to revive his traditional language, writes Victoria Laurie.' -
Favourite Fiction 2011
2011
single work
column
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , December 2011; -
Finding a Place in Story : Kim Scott’s Writing and the Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project
2014
single work
criticism
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;'In True Country, the narrator draws the reader close and says, “You listen to me. We’re gunna make a story, true story. You might find it’s here you belong. A place like this.” (15) Although the narrator speaks of ‘(a) place like this’ as “a beautiful place (…). Call it our country, our country all ‘round here” (15), belonging, for the reader, for the characters in each of Scott’s novels, and for Scott himself, is more than settling into a physical environment, belonging is finding a place in the story.
'Mamang, Noongar Mambara Bakitj, Dwoort Baal Kaat, and Yira Boornak Nyininy are major achievements in Scott and The Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Project’s process of returning, restoring and rejuvenating language and story within the Noongar community and for an ever-widening public. In their form, content and intent, the stories renegotiate ideas of place and placement, confronting personal, cultural and linguistic dislocations in Noongar lives as well as an ambivalent narrative landscape in which language and story are central to both a lingering colonialism and the process of decolonisation.' (Publication abstract)
-
Not so Easy
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Griffith Review , no. 47 2015; (p. 200-214)'A young man - scarcely more than a boy - stands on a rock beside the deep sea. A whale surfaces next to him, almost within reach. I can't say if the boy knows the whale, but he knows of the whale: all his life he's watched families of them travel along this coast. Recently, he learned the words of one such journey.' (Publication abstract)