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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Engaging, thought-provoking stories from a young Tasmanian Aboriginal author who addresses universal themes – identity, racism, heritage destruction – from a wholly original perspective.
'The stories in Born Into This throw light on a world of unique cultural practice and perspective, from Indigenous rangers trying to instil some pride in wayward urban teens on the harsh islands off the coast of Tasmania to those scraping by on the margins of white society railroaded into complex and compromised decisions. To this mix Adam Thompson manages to bring humour, pathos and occasionally a sly twist as his characters confront racism, untimely funerals, classroom politics and, overhanging all like a discomforting, burgeoning awareness for both white and black Australia, the inexorable damage and disappearance of the remnant natural world.' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Dedication :
'In memory of my beautiful and loving mother, Deirdre Jean Anderson
'Dee'
'(1957-2008)'
-
Book club notes available from publisher's website.
Contents
- Invasion Day, single work short story
- The Old Tin Mine, single work short story
- Honey, single work short story
- Born into This, single work short story
- Jack's Island, single work short story
- Summer Girl, single work short story
- Descendant, single work short story
- Sonny, single work short story
- Aboriginal Alcatraz, single work short story
- Black Eye, single work short story
- The Blackfellas from Here, single work short story
- Your Own Aborigine, single work short story
- Bleak Conditions, single work short story
- Time and Tide, single work short story
- Kite, single work short story
- Morpork, single work short story
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
New Writer Is Born
2021
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 27 January no. 743 2021; (p. 6) 'TALES of Aboriginal rangers living on the windswept islands off the coast of Tasmania. Identity fraud, untimely funerals and moral dilemmas. All these topics and more are in BORN into This, a collection of fictional short stones by emerging Pakana writer Adam Thompson, which hits bookstores next week.'
-
Born Into This by Adam Thompson Review : Witty, Versatile and Thrumming with Voice
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 19 February 2021;
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story -
The Tyranny of Tokenism
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , August 2021;
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story'In the public imagining, many equate Tasmania (Lutruwita) with Truganini – the ‘last Tasmanian Aboriginal’. This narrative of the last Tasmanian is a deliberate one, engineered by the colonial project, to lay claim to the truth. The undeniable and true history of genocide in Lutruwita is not to be conflated with the total extinction of its first peoples. To do so erases First Nations existence and survival in Lutruwita – literally.' (Introduction)
-
Adam Thompson : Born into This
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , May 2021;
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story'Adam Thompson’s vivid stories encompass resistance, revenge, and hard truths.'
-
Addressing Identity : Stories of Present-day Tasmania
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 430 2021; (p. 32)
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story'When as a boy I listened to football on the radio, I would often hear mention of David Harris, a skilful midfielder who played for Geelong and Geelong West respectively in what were then the VFL and VFA. Harris was mostly known as ‘Darky’, not ‘David’. Recently, thanks to a YouTube interview, I learnt that Harris’s parents were Lebanese Australians. While in the interview Harris did not express offence, one can only wonder about the effect on him of this nickname – one he’d had since his own boyhood – based on the colour of his skin.' (Introduction)
-
Adam Thompson, Born Into This
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 13-19 February 2021;
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story -
Books Roundup
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Kill Your Darlings [Online] , February 2021;
— Review of Growing Up Disabled in Australia 2021 anthology autobiography ; Born Into This 2021 selected work short story ; Eating with My Mouth Open 2021 single work autobiography essay -
Addressing Identity : Stories of Present-day Tasmania
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 430 2021; (p. 32)
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story'When as a boy I listened to football on the radio, I would often hear mention of David Harris, a skilful midfielder who played for Geelong and Geelong West respectively in what were then the VFL and VFA. Harris was mostly known as ‘Darky’, not ‘David’. Recently, thanks to a YouTube interview, I learnt that Harris’s parents were Lebanese Australians. While in the interview Harris did not express offence, one can only wonder about the effect on him of this nickname – one he’d had since his own boyhood – based on the colour of his skin.' (Introduction)
-
Adam Thompson : Born into This
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , May 2021;
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story'Adam Thompson’s vivid stories encompass resistance, revenge, and hard truths.'
-
The Tyranny of Tokenism
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , August 2021;
— Review of Born Into This 2021 selected work short story'In the public imagining, many equate Tasmania (Lutruwita) with Truganini – the ‘last Tasmanian Aboriginal’. This narrative of the last Tasmanian is a deliberate one, engineered by the colonial project, to lay claim to the truth. The undeniable and true history of genocide in Lutruwita is not to be conflated with the total extinction of its first peoples. To do so erases First Nations existence and survival in Lutruwita – literally.' (Introduction)
-
New Writer Is Born
2021
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 27 January no. 743 2021; (p. 6) 'TALES of Aboriginal rangers living on the windswept islands off the coast of Tasmania. Identity fraud, untimely funerals and moral dilemmas. All these topics and more are in BORN into This, a collection of fictional short stones by emerging Pakana writer Adam Thompson, which hits bookstores next week.'
Awards
- 2022 longlisted Tasmania Book Prizes Tasmanian Literary Awards — Premier's Prize for Fiction
- 2021 shortlisted Readings Prizes — Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction
- 2021 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — University of Southern Queensland Australian Short Story Collection – Steele Rudd Award
- 2021 shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award — Book of the Year
- Tasmania,