AustLit

There is currently a renaissance in Indigenous writing as authors across genres are publishing stories that reflect not only the diversity of who we are today, but also demonstrate the skills we have collectively honed over time. It’s an exciting time with an explosion of fiction writing in particular. This is highlighted by the black+write program at the State Library of Queensland and the Laguna Bay Press / Oxford University Press educational series titled Yarning Strong.

I like to pride myself on the fact that through BlackWords one can find a novel, poem, essay etc. on almost any Australian subject, and that is why this resource is essential to embedding Indigenous Studies into the national curriculum. I know that BlackWords is the one-stop shop of everything written and published by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers across genres, and it’s the only resource of its kind in the world.

Through accessing the works indexed into BlackWords, researchers, educators, students, and general readers can get not only a fantastic insight the history of our literature, but also a comprehensive look at how we document our world views and why.

I’d like to see literary trails done on more topics and nations and it would be great to have more essays and critical work available for download from the site.

Well, in short, I’d say I read largely because I want to be a better writer, and reading shows me what works on the page. Reading helps me understand my own voice better and how I can challenge myself as a writer and hopefully improve my writing technique. And reading widely also lets me know what is in the marketplace and what gaps need to be filled.

I’m a Williams; my mob’s from Cowra, Brungle Mission, Griffith, and Canberra, but I was born in Gadigal country (aka the city of Sydney) and have spent most of my life living on Dharawal land at Matraville, which is strategically placed between the Malabar sewage works, Long Bay Gaol, and the Orica industrial estate. It’s a place where I grew up playing cricket in the street, walked safely to and from school each day, and where neighbours always had a spare key to the house. I am affectionately known as concrete Koori with Westfield Dreaming, I’m an urban, beachside Blackfella and I apologise to no one.

P. M. Newton’s Beams Falling. It’s the follow up to The Old School and gives a gritty, insider look at crime in Sydney’s Cabramatta. Alice Pung’s Her Father’s Daughter. The writing and story was so powerful it brought me to tears.

There’s a couple but I’d rather not say because I do value the work of the authors generally, but these specific books just couldn’t keep my attention.

The Papunya School Book of Country and History – it is accessible to all and has everything – history, culture, artwork. Every Australian household should have a copy.

Because I can’t sing, dance or paint, but I love to be creative and to tell stories. Most importantly, I find literature holds a mirror up to society and is the best platform for getting important messages and ideas out to broad audiences.

I was an avid pen pal as a teenager writing epic letters. Then my first ‘real’ job out of uni was working at Streetwize Comics, which opened my mind not only to writing comic scripts but columns, press releases and journal articles.

I wrote every chance I could, and published where I could to build up my publications list. I joined a writers’ centre in the 1990s and entered competitions. I have always supported other writers, and attended events to be part of a writing community and, in many ways, that helped me become a better writer. I don’t know that writing came naturally, but telling a story is something that is natural to me.

I think writers who research well, take advice from professionals, read widely and know ‘why’ they are writing – beyond the need to tell their own story – will make ‘good writers’. Some of my favourite authors include a long list of Australian writers ... Susan Johnson, Alice Pung, Benjamin Law, Melissa Lucashenko, Alexis Wright, and more ...

To use my fiction as a means of capturing broad audiences and engage them in a way that means they want to read more and learn more about Aboriginal Australia today.

I’m currently working on a project with visual artist Tony Albert that will pay tribute to Indigenous men and women who have served in the Armed Forces from the Boer War to the present. The memorial will be unveiled in Hyde Park in Sydney in 2015.

I find the motivation to write from nearly every book I choose to read. As a novelist, I am inspired at different times by the work of different authors. Right now, and based on my recent reading, I am inspired by the works of Alexis Wright, Melissa Lucashenko, P.M. Newton, and Kathryn Heyman. All Australian women writers.