Indigenous Australian literature

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David Unaipon (1872-1967), the first Aboriginal author to be published David Unaipon.jpg
David Unaipon (1872-1967), the first Aboriginal author to be published

Indigenous Australian literature is the fiction, plays, poems, essays and other works authored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

Contents

While a letter written by Bennelong to Governor Arthur Phillip in 1796 is the first known work written in English by an Aboriginal person, David Unaipon was the first Aboriginal author to be published, in 1924–5. Since then, the number of published and recognised Indigenous authors has grown enormously; as of 2020, AustLit's BlackWords lists 23,481 works, and 6,949 authors and organisations. Nearly all are in English, as Indigenous Australians had not written their languages before the colonisation of Australia. Few works have thus far been written in Aboriginal Australian languages, but with recent efforts at language revival, this is expected to grow.

History

Whether or not Indigenous Australian message sticks constitute writing is still a matter of scholarly debate. [1] However, because message sticks are made of wood, which is extremely rarely preserved in the Australian climate, none from before colonisation have survived. [1] Thus, the first literary accounts of Aboriginal people come from the journals of early European explorers, which contain descriptions of first contact. [2]

A letter to Governor Arthur Phillip written by Bennelong in 1796 is the first known work written in English by an Aboriginal person. [3]

While his father, James Unaipon (c.1835-1907), contributed to accounts of Ngarrindjeri mythology written by the missionary George Taplin in South Australia, [4] David Unaipon (1872–1967) provided the first accounts of Aboriginal mythology written by an Aboriginal person, Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines (1924–5), and was the first Aboriginal author to be published.

The Yirrkala bark petitions of 1963 are the first traditional Aboriginal document recognised by the Australian Parliament. [5]

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (1920–1993) was a famous Aboriginal poet, writer and rights activist credited with publishing the first Aboriginal book of verse: We Are Going (1964). [6]

There was a flourishing of Aboriginal literature from the 1970s through to the 1990s, coinciding with a period of political advocacy and focus on Indigenous Australian land rights. [7] Sally Morgan's 1987 memoir My Place brought Indigenous stories to wider notice. [8] In the same year, Magabala Books, an Indigenous-owned enterprise, published its first book. In 1988, the David Unaipon Award was established by the University of Queensland Press, to reward and encourage new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. [7]

However a conservative backlash occurred under John Howard's government (1996 to 2007), causing a period of decline for Aboriginal publishing that was to last until the mid to late 2010s. [7]

Contemporary literature

Noel Pearson, an Aboriginal lawyer, rights activist and essayist Noel Pearson 8Feb10.jpg
Noel Pearson, an Aboriginal lawyer, rights activist and essayist

Wiradjuri writer and academic Anita Heiss has edited a collection of Aboriginal literature that spans from 1796 until 2008, [9] as well as a guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. [10]

Leading Aboriginal activists Marcia Langton ( First Australians documentary TV series, 2008) and Noel Pearson (Up from the Mission, 2009) are contemporary contributors to Australian non-fiction. Other voices of Indigenous Australians include the playwright Jack Davis and Kevin Gilbert.

The First Nations Australia Writers Network was founded in 2013 with Kerry Reed-Gilbert as inaugural chair, to support and advocate for Indigenous writers. During the early 21st century, Heiss, Sandra Phillips and Jeanine Leane were important voices in promoting Aboriginal publishing. [7]

Writers coming to prominence in the 21st century include Kim Scott, Alexis Wright, Kate Howarth, Tara June Winch, Yvette Holt and Anita Heiss. Indigenous authors who have won Australia's Miles Franklin Award include Kim Scott, who was joint winner (with Thea Astley) in 2000 for Benang and again in 2011 for That Deadman Dance. Alexis Wright won the award in 2007 for her novel Carpentaria. Melissa Lucashenko won the Miles Franklin Award in 2019 for her novel Too Much Lip . [11]

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women writers have also been well represented in the Stella Prize for writing by Australian women: the 2018 prize was awarded to Alexis Wright for her collective memoir, Tracker; [12] and the shortlist has included Melissa Lucashenko’s Too Much Lip in 2019; Claire G. Coleman’s Terra Nullius in 2018; Ellen van Neerven’s Heat and Light in 2015; and Alexis Wright's The Swan Book in 2014. [13]

Poetry

Poets such as Evelyn Araluen, Ellen van Neerven and Alison Whittaker started rising to further prominence in 2020, after the George Floyd protests in Australia. Van Neerven's collection Throat won Book of the Year, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Multicultural NSW Award at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Gunai poet Kirli Saunders cites van Neerven, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Oodgeroo Noonuccal as major influences in her work. [7] Araluen's Dropbear won the 2022 Stella Prize. [14]

Online repositories

Notable authors

Further reading

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian literature</span>

Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, its recognised literary tradition begins with and is linked to the broader tradition of English literature. However, the narrative art of Australian writers has, since 1788, introduced the character of a new continent into literature—exploring such themes as Aboriginality, mateship, egalitarianism, democracy, national identity, migration, Australia's unique location and geography, the complexities of urban living, and "the beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oodgeroo Noonuccal</span> Aboriginal Australian poet, artist, teacher and campaigner for Indigenous rights

Oodgeroo Noonuccal ( UUD-gə-roo NOO-nə-kəl; born Kathleen Jean Mary Ruska, later Kath Walker was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, artist and educator, who campaigned for Aboriginal rights. Noonuccal was best known for her poetry, and was the first Aboriginal Australian to publish a book of verse.

Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. The words "law" and "lore", the latter relating to the customs and stories passed down through the generations, are commonly used interchangeably. Learned from childhood, lore dictates the rules on how to interact with the land, kinship and community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Watson (political activist)</span> Indigenous Australian activist

Samuel William Watson, also known as Sammy Watson Jnr, was an Aboriginal Australian activist from the 1970s, who in later life stood as a Socialist Alliance candidate. He is known for being a co-founder of the Australian Black Panther Party in 1971/2. Through work at the Brisbane Aboriginal Legal Service in the early 1990s, Watson was involved in implementing the findings of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. From 2009 was deputy director at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit at the University of Queensland.

Alexis Wright is a Waanyi writer best known for winning the Miles Franklin Award for her 2006 novel Carpentaria and for being the first writer to win the Stella Prize twice, in 2018 for her "collective memoir" of Leigh Bruce "Tracker" Tilmouth and in 2024 for Praiseworthy.Praiseworthy also won her the Miles Franklin Award in 2024, making her the first person to win the Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Award in the same year.

The Fellowship of Australian Writers (FAW) is a collection or federation of state-based organizations aiming to support and promote the interests of Australian writers. It was established in Sydney in 1928, with the aim of bringing writers together and promoting their interests. The organisation played a key role in the establishment of the Australian Society of Authors in 1963, a national body and now the main professional organisation in Australia for writers of literary works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara June Winch</span> Australian writer

Tara June Winch is an Australian writer. She is the 2020 winner of the Miles Franklin Award for her book The Yield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anita Heiss</span> Indigenous Australian author

Anita Marianne Heiss is an Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. She is an advocate for Indigenous Australian literature and literacy, through her writing for adults and children and her membership of boards and committees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Queensland Press</span> Australian publishing house

University of Queensland Press (UQP) is an Australian publishing house based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1948 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Queensland and a traditional university press, UQP now publishes books for general readers across fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and includes works for children and young adults.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melissa Lucashenko</span> Indigenous Australian writer

Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australian writer of adult literary fiction and literary non-fiction, who has also written novels for teenagers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magabala Books</span> Indigenous publishing house in Western Australia

Magabala Books is an Indigenous Australian publishing house based in Broome, Western Australia, founded in 1987. Their stated objective is "restoring, preserving and maintaining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures". The name Magabala is a Yawuru, Karrajari and Nyulnyul word for the bush banana. In 1990, they became an independent Aboriginal corporation.

Ellen van Neerven is an Aboriginal Australian writer, educator and editor. Their first work of fiction, Heat and Light (2013), won several awards, and in 2019 Van Neerven won the Queensland Premier's Young Publishers and Writers Award. Their second collection of poetry, Throat (2020), won three awards at the 2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, including Book of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders</span> Australian agency

The Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), founded in Adelaide, South Australia, as the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA) on 16 February 1958, was a civil rights organisation which campaigned for the welfare of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, and the first national body representing Aboriginal interests. It was influential in lobbying in favour of the 1967 Referendum on Aboriginal Australians. It was renamed to National Aboriginal and Islander Liberation Movement (NAILM) in the early to mid 1970s, before disbanding in 1978.

Jared Thomas is an Australian author of children's fiction, playwright, and museum curator. Several of his books have been shortlisted for awards, and he has been awarded several fellowships, including a Churchill Fellowship in 2019. As of November 2024 Thomas is a research fellow for Indigenous culture and art at the South Australian Museum and the University of South Australia.

Kirstie Parker is a Yuwallarai journalist, policy administrator and Aboriginal Australian activist. From 2013 to 2015 she served as the co-chair of the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples and during her tenure pressed for policies that allowed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians to gain the ability for self-determination.

The First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) is the peak advocacy body for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writers, storytellers and poets in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yvette Holt</span> Australian poet

Yvette Henry Holt is an Australian literary executive, a multi award-winning contemporary Australian Aboriginal poet, essayist, researcher and editor, she heralds from the Bidjara, Yiman and Wakaman nations of Queensland. The youngest child born to prominent Queensland Elder, Albert Holt and Marlene Holt. Yvette came to poetic prominence with her first award-winning collection of poetry Anonymous Premonition 2008. Between 2009-2021 Holt lived and worked in Central Australia among the Central and Western Arrernte peoples of Hermansburg and Alice Springs.

Evelyn Araluen is an Australian poet and literary editor. She won the 2022 Stella Prize with her first book, Dropbear.

Jeanine Leane is a Wiradjuri poet and activist from southwest New South Wales. She is an associate professor in creative writing at the University of Melbourne.

References

  1. 1 2 Kelly, Piers (2020). "Australian message sticks: Old questions, new directions". Journal of Material Culture. 25 (2): 133–152. doi:10.1177/1359183519858375. hdl: 21.11116/0000-0003-FDF8-9 . S2CID   198687425.
  2. ↑ Genoni, Paul (2004). Subverting the Empire: Explorers and Exploration in Australian Fiction. Altona, VIC: Common Ground.
  3. ↑ Maher, Louise (8 August 2013). "Treasure Trove: Bennelong's letter". 666 ABC Canberra. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Jenkin, Graham (1979). Conquest of the Ngarrindjeri. Adelaide: Rigby.
  5. ↑ "Documenting Democracy". Archived from the original on 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  6. ↑ (in English) "Modern Australian poetry". Ministère de la culture. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Story, Hannah (26 May 2021). "First Nations women and non-binary writers are making waves in Australian poetry". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  8. ↑ Eye to Eye: Women Practising Development Across Cultures. p. 210.
  9. ↑ Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature
  10. ↑ Dhuuluu-Yala: To Talk Straight
  11. ↑ "2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist unveiled | Perpetual". www.perpetual.com.au. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  12. ↑ Tracker
  13. ↑ "Announcing the Winner of the 2019 Stella Prize". The Stella Prize. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  14. ↑ Story, Hannah (28 April 2022). ""An insane honour": Young First Nations poet wins $60,000 prize for women and non-binary writers". ABC News. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  15. ↑ "BlackWords". AustLit. University of Queensland.
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