Always Will Be
These fiery works by First Nations writers, poets, and critics pack a punch. Political, personal, and powerful, this diverse array of voices take on the ongoing impacts of colonisation and the flawed narrative of colonial Australia, while celebrating Aboriginal culture, heritage, languages, resilience, and identity.
Heat and Light by Ellen van Neerven
This collection is organised in three parts - Heat, Water, and Light - with stories that range from the literary to the speculative. Many feature young women exploring where they belong and navigating the complex tapestry of Aboriginality, family, queerness, identity, and relationships. This collection is original, imaginative, and one of my absolute favourites.
Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
A groundbreaking work which examines colonial accounts of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia to challenge the notion of Aboriginal people as simply nomadic “hunter-gatherers.” Pascoe offers evidence of complex, longstanding agricultural, engineering, and building practices, and reveals how these were maintained through an exceptional knowledge of land and country. This is a modern classic and absolutely essential reading.
Firefront: First Nations Poetry and Power Today edited by Alison Whittaker
Curated by poet Alison Whittaker, this anthology of First Nations poetry showcases an excellent array of Aboriginal writers and thinkers. Each of the book’s five sections is prefaced by an essay that reflects on the poems to follow, covering themes such as the act of witnessing, the failures and inadequacies of colonial language, grief, and legacies of colonialism.
Inside My Mother by Ali Cobby Eckermann
Cobby Eckermann writes about her separation and reunion with her mother, as well as her death and commemoration. Infused with a deeply political conscience, she explores ritual, heritage, and legacies, while reckoning with grief, yearning, and loss.
The Swan Book by Alexis Wright
By an enormous swamp filled with swans, 300 years after colonisation, Aboriginal people are still living under the shocking conditions of the NT Intervention. In this climate-ravaged world, an Aboriginal girl called Oblivion Ethyl(ene) begins to wake from a hundred year sleep. Wright is one of our most masterful storytellers, and Oblivia's journey is both shattering and breathtaking.
Kindred by Kirli Saunders
This debut poetry collection is themed around love, connection, and loss. It is a personal exploration of kinship and community with a deep commitment to the Earth and Indigenous languages.
A Most Pecular Act by Marie Munkara
Set in Darwin during WWII, this satirical novella takes on Australia's protectionist policies in the early 20th century. The "most peculiar act" of the title is the Aboriginal Ordinances Act of 1918, and short extracts from it introduce each chapter. With sardonic humour and a carnivalesque cast of characters (not least Chief Protector of Aborigines Horatio Humphris aka Horrid Hump) Munkara reveals the rules that governed and limited the lives of Aboriginal people.
Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia edited by Anita Heiss
An anthology of memoirs and stories from Aboriginal writers from around the country. These stories are diverse in their experiences and voices, challenging stereotypes and offering a wide variety of perspectives on what it means to grow up Aboriginal in Australia.