AustLit

'Don’t Take Your Love to Town is a story of courage in the face of poverty and tragedy. Ruby recounts losing her mother when she was six, growing up in a mission in northern New South Wales and leaving home when she was fifteen. She lived in tin huts and tents in the bush and picked up work on the land while raising nine children virtually single-handedly. Later she struggled to make ends meet in the Koori areas of Sydney. Ruby is an amazing woman whose sense of humour has endured through all the hardships she has experienced.

Talk Softly, Listen Well details Charles Moran's family history, including his early life in the Northern Rivers region and describes how he survived the clash of cultural expectations. (Source: Publishers website)

Grace Roberts was a 'stolen' child. This short book tells the story of her life. Grace 'was regarded as a "special woman" , she lived and worked mainly within her own language area, but her presence was felt in far wider circles; the bureacracy of the time both state and federal were very aware of her work and aspirations'. (Source: Grace Roberts: Her Life, Her Mystery, Her Dreaming 198?:4)

'In 200 years since colonisation soldiers from this country have distinguished themselves in eight campaigns on foreign soils. Australian Aborigines have served an active role in each of these wars, though their efforts to sign-up were often resisted by official policy that saw them as unsuitable because of their racial origin. After the event Aboriginal contribution was rarely recognised by historians or brought to the attention of the public.'

'Through the erection of the war memorial the people of Yugambeh Aboriginal group pay tribute to the many Aboriginal service men and women who have served this country'.

'A haunting novel of loss and redemption, Watershed tells with great poignancy and ironic insight the story of Eve and her husband Marconi, whose son David disappeared one day in the Murray River. A novel of contemporary Australian life.' (Source: TROVE)

'In this award-winning work of fiction, Ellen van Neerven leads readers on a journey that is mythical, mystical and still achingly real.

'Over three parts, van Neerven takes traditional storytelling and gives it a unique, contemporary twist. In ‘Heat’, we meet several generations of the Kresinger family and the legacy left by the mysterious Pearl. In ‘Water’, a futuristic world is imagined and the fate of a people threatened. In ‘Light’, familial ties are challenged and characters are caught between a desire for freedom and a sense of belonging.

'Unconventional Means: The Dream Down Under is a combination of memoir and personal adventure in which the lives of an upper-middle-class artist from Nashville, TN and an Aboriginal Australian elder intersect. Contains traditional Aboriginal stories and artwork by the author. Sixteen-year-old Anne Williams, shattered by a family tragedy, tries to cope through art and reading. She eventually finds solace in Nevil Shute's novel A Town Like Alice. His heroine's journey through the tribulations of war to find love and a new home modeled after the town of Alice Springs, Australia gives teenage Anne hope "that there is something on the other side of the terrible things" for her, too.

'Some people say that Dirrangun is a witch, That she's mean and cunning and Brings you all the mischief in the world. Others say that she's friendly. But she's a very old woman and She has long hair down to her knees. Dirrangun is well-known near Grafton and along the north coast of New South Wales. Both the Bunjalung and Githavul people speak of her and of her connection with local landmarks. She is a powerful woman.' (Source: Publishers website)

'Come with me to my family's old house in Lionsville. It's full of memories. It's a special place. Uncle Pat calls it a secret place.
'We played in that old tin cubby, swam in the creek with the catfish, and fell asleep to the ribbip of frogs at night.
'And around the red cedar table we listened to the old people's stories. We learned a lot that way.
'Renowned artist Bronwyn Bancroft's Remembering Lionsville brings to vivid life her family's oral history and her own childhood memories.

'These poems pulse with the language and images of a mangrove-lined river city, the beckoning highway, the just-glimpsed muse, the tug of childhood and restless ancestors. For the first time Samuel Wagan Watson's poetry has been collected into this stunning volume, which includes a final section of all new work.' (Source: UQP website: www.uqp.uq.edu.au)

'Opera Australia and the Yarrabah Indigenous Community of Far North Queensland join forces for this world premiere musical. Directed by Rhoda Roberts, this innovative production tells the stories and history of Yarrabah through spoken word, dance and song, performed with a live band and featuring an original score by Shenzo Gregorio, with choreography by Marilyn Miller. Featuring many of the young people and elders of the Yarrabah Community, alongside artists Casey Donovan, Troy Brady and Nick Backstrom, 'YARRABAH! The Musical' is both striking and extraordinary.

A documentary that uses historical footage and interviews with people who were part of the generation of Indigenous Australians forced into unpaid servitude by the Australian government. The title refers to the amount of pocket money the indentured workers were supposed to be given, but never received, while their wages were managed by their 'employers' on behalf of the Aborigines Protection Board.

'Inspired by a young girl's journey between two cultures, Mathinna traces the fragmented history of a young Tasmanian Aboriginal girl removed from her traditional life and adopted into Western Colonial society, only to be ultimately returned to the fragments of her original heritage' (Source : www.bangarra.com.au (Sighted 07/10/2009)).

'The central character in the series is Odin Freeburn, who promised his dying mother 20 years ago he would keep the family together. Now, he has one brother in jail, another brother in love with the daughter of the family enemy and his wife has run away to the city, leaving him to raise their two daughters.

His employer has just died, his sister-in-law is in love with him and the spirit of his mother Eden has come back to tell him how to do it all so much better and protect the important destiny of the Freeburn line.

'This paper suggests that the current depictions of Aboriginal families must be contextualised within an understanding of the complex historical relationships that continue to be marked by both a culture of fear and also a failure to appreciate the alternative narratives on Aboriginal families that are extant with Aboriginal communities themselves.' (Source: Abstract)