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'A deeply personal, profound tribute to family and the Gudanji Country to which Debra Dank belongs.
'We Come with This Place is a remarkable book, as rich, varied and surprising as the vast landscape in which it is set. Debra Dank has created an extraordinary mosaic of vivid episodes that move about in time and place to tell an unforgettable story of country and people.
'There is great pain in these pages, and anger at injustice, but also great love, in marriage and in family, and for the land. Dank faces head on the ingrained racism, born of brutal practice and harsh legislation, that lies always under the skin of Australia, the racism that calls a little Aboriginal girl names and beats and rapes and disenfranchises the generations before hers. She describes sudden terrible violence, between races and sometimes at home. But overwhelmingly this is a book about strong, beloved parents and grandparents, guiding and teaching their children and grandchildren what country means, about joyful gatherings and the pleasures of eating food provided by the place that nourishes them, both spiritually and physically.
'Dank calibrates human emotions with honesty and insight, and there is plenty of dry, down-to-earth humour. You can feel and smell and see the puffs of dust under moving feet, the ever-present burning heat, the bright exuberance of a night-time campfire, the emerald flash of a flock of budgerigars, the journeying wind, the harshness of a station shanty, the welcome scent of fresh water.
'We Come with This Place is deeply personal, a profound tribute to family and the Gudanji Country to which Debra Dank belongs, but it is much more than that. Here is Australia as it has been for countless generations, land and people in effortless balance, and Australia as it became, but also Australia as it could and should be.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Selected as one of the Guardian Australia best Australian books of 2022
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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y
#1 Nonfiction of 2023 : Debra Dank on Writing Memoir
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2024
27358559
2024
single work
podcast
interview
'Debra Dank is a Gudanji/Wakaja writer and educator. Her 2023 memoir We Come With This Place - a book she never intended to publish - won the ALS Gold Medal and four NSW Premier's Awards, and was also listed for many other prizes.
'An educator, she has worked in teaching and learning for many years – a gift given through the hard work of her parents. She continues to experience the privilege of living with country and with family. Debra completed her PhD in Narrative Theory and Semiotics at Deakin University in 2021.'
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What Country Means to Me
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 28-29 July 2023; (p. 17)
— Review of We Come With This Place 2022 multi chapter work essay prose -
Debra Dank : We Come with This Place
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 22-28 July 2023;
— Review of We Come With This Place 2022 multi chapter work essay prose -
Indigenous Author Debra Dank Sweeps NSW Premier’s Literary Awards with Memoir We Come With This Place
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2023;'Gudanji and Wakaja woman Debra Dank has won a record four out of 14 NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her memoir of family, community and Country, We Come With This Place — including the top gong, Book of the Year.'
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Debut Author Debra Dank Breaks Records at NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 22 May 2023;
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Witty, Poetic, Beautifully Written : The Best Australian Books Out in July
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 4 July 2022;
— Review of We Come With This Place 2022 multi chapter work essay prose ; Denizen 2022 single work novel ; The All of It : A Bogan Rhapsody 2022 single work autobiography ; Jesustown 2021 single work novel ; Holy Woman : A Divine Adventure 2022 single work autobiography -
We Come With This Place by Debra Dank Review – A Jewel to Rival Australia’s Great Desert Memoirs
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 29 July 2022;
— Review of We Come With This Place 2022 multi chapter work essay prose 'Beauty and pain intertwine as Dank deftly weaves the story of her family, ancestors and country' -
Debra Dank : We Come with This Place
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 22-28 July 2023;
— Review of We Come With This Place 2022 multi chapter work essay prose -
What Country Means to Me
2023
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 28-29 July 2023; (p. 17)
— Review of We Come With This Place 2022 multi chapter work essay prose -
The 'Accidental' Author with Feeling for Country
2022
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 27 July no. 781 2022; (p. 56) 'Debra Dank loves stories. And she loves Country. Her new book We Come With This Place combines those loves. -
Stella Prize Shortlist 2023 : Your Guide to 6 Gripping, Courageous Books
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: The Conversation , 26 April 2023; -
y
Debra Dank for The Stella Shortlist
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2023
26204575
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'Debra Dank is a Gudanji/Wakaja woman. Her memoir We Come With This Place is shortlisted for the Stella Prize in 2023. An educator, she has worked in teaching and learning for many years – a gift given through the hard work of her parents. She continues to experience the privilege of living with country and with family. Debra completed her PhD in Narrative Theory and Semiotics at Deakin University in 2021. Read the transcript for this interview here.'
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Debut Author Debra Dank Breaks Records at NSW Premier’s Literary Awards
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 22 May 2023; -
Indigenous Author Debra Dank Sweeps NSW Premier’s Literary Awards with Memoir We Come With This Place
2023
single work
column
— Appears in: ABC News [Online] , May 2023;'Gudanji and Wakaja woman Debra Dank has won a record four out of 14 NSW Premier's Literary Awards for her memoir of family, community and Country, We Come With This Place — including the top gong, Book of the Year.'
Awards
- 2023 shortlisted Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Non-Fiction
- 2023 winner Queensland Literary Awards — Non-Fiction Book Award
- 2023 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance
- 2023 longlisted Mark and Evette Moran Nib Award for Literature
- 2023 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — The Courier-Mail People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year