First Nations Classics

When eighteen-year-old Bill Dodd dived into the Maranoa River his life changed in an instant. This young larrikin had enjoyed many adventures as a stockman on a remote cattle station; now he was a quadriplegic. His boxing, running and football days were over, and he would never ride his beloved horses again. Bill's story begins with a high-spirited childhood in smalltown Queensland, a time of youthful humour and energy. The sudden death of his stockman father affects Bill deeply and he rebels, before himself choosing the exciting life of an apprentice stockman. Waking up in the intensive care spinal unit, he faces the consequences of his accident and slowly builds a new life.

Aboriginal lawyer, writer and filmmaker Larissa Behrendt has long been fascinated by the story of Eliza Fraser, who was purportedly captured by the Butchulla people after she was shipwrecked on their island off the Queensland coast in 1836. In this deeply personal book, Behrendt uses Eliza' s tale as a starting point to interrogate how Aboriginal people – and indigenous people of other countries – have been portrayed in their colonisers' stories. Exploring works as diverse as Robinson Crusoe and Coonardoo, Behrendt looks at the stereotypes embedded in these accounts, including the assumption of cannibalism and the myth of the noble savage. Ultimately, Finding Eliza shows how these stories not only reflect the values of their storytellers but also reinforce those values – and how, in Australia, this has contributed to a complex racial divide.

' When he was in gaol, he' d begun to prepare himself for the fight of his life, a showdown with the policeman, McWilliams … he' d face life with death, and see who blinked first.' Blackie and Rips are fresh out of prison when they set off on a road trip back to Wiradjuri country with their mate Carlos. Blackie is out for revenge against the cop who put him in prison on false grounds. He is also craving to reconnect with his grandmother' s country. Driven by his hunger for drugs and payback, Blackie reaches dark places of both mystery and beauty as he searches for peace. Moreover he is willing to pay for that peace with his own life.

A unique, authentic novel of friendship and brotherhood, based on the author' s long years droving on stock routes of inland Australia. Herb Wharton, former drover, now celebrated author, unleashes a strikingly original vision of outback Australia. From the riotous picnic races to the famous Mt Isa rodeo, from childhood in the yumba to gutsy outback pubs, Unbranded presents a rollicking cast of stockmen, shearers, barmaids and tourists. At its heart this novel is the story of three men: Sandy is a white man; Bindi, a Murri; Mulga is related on his mother's side to Bindi, and on his Irish father's side to Sandy. Their lives and enduring friendship cover forty years in the mulga country of the far west. Unbranded recounts how Sandy achieves his dream of owning a cattle empire, how Bindi regains part of his tribal lands for his people, and how Mulga finally sits down to write about their shared experiences.

In this brilliant novel, Alexis Wright evokes city and outback, deepening our understanding of human ambition and failure, and making the timeless heart and soul of this country pulsate on the page. In the 1950s Gulf Country of Queensland' s far North, black and white cultures collide in a thousand ways as Aboriginal spirituality clashes with the complex brutality of colonisation at St Dominic' s Mission. When Ivy Koopundi and her mother arrive at the Mission, they are immediately separated and Ivy' s life changes irrevocably. Years later, Mary, a young woman who is working for a city-based Aboriginal Coalition, visits the old Mission and learns of her mother' s and grandmother' s suffering there. Mary' s return reignites community anxieties, leading the Council of Elders to again turn to their spirit world. This stunning novel, from the only writer to win both the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize, showcases Alexis Wright' s distinctive and far-reaching talents.

Shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Blood is a coming-of-age story set on the back roads of Australia. From multi-award-winning author Tony Birch comes a masterful novel about the indelible bond between two siblings. Jesse has sworn to protect his sister, Rachel, no matter what. It' s a promise that cannot be broken. A promise made in blood. But, when it comes down to life or death, how can he find the courage to keep it? Set on the back roads of Australia, Blood is a boy' s odyssey through a broken-down adult world.

Honest, brutal, and moving stories of Indigenous Australian life. The Window Seat is a powerful collection of Archie Weller's best fiction, showcasing his significant contribution to contemporary Indigenous writing. These stories offer unflinching portrayals of Aboriginal experiences in Australia, exploring themes of identity, justice, and cultural survival. From the final journey home seen through the eyes of a white traveler to a young man's harsh lesson in justice, Weller's narratives resonate with raw emotion and profound insight. Experience the richness and complexity of Indigenous Australian storytelling. Perfect for readers interested in: - Australian literature - Indigenous voices - Social commentary Discover a rewarding reading experience that challenges and moves.

In this award-winning work of fiction, Ellen van Neerven leads readers on a journey that is mythical, mystical and still achingly real. Over three parts, van Neerven takes traditional storytelling and gives it a unique, contemporary twist. In ' Heat' , we meet several generations of the Kresinger family and the legacy left by the mysterious Pearl. In ' Water' , a futuristic world is imagined and the fate of a people threatened. In ' Light' , familial ties are challenged and characters are caught between a desire for freedom and a sense of belonging. Heat and Light is an intriguing collection that heralded the arrival of a major new talent in Australian writing.

Growing up on the Mission isn' t easy for clever Grace Oldman. When her classmates tease her for not having a father, she doesn' t know what to say. Papa Neddy says her dad is the Lord God in Heaven, but that doesn' t help when the Mission kids call her a bastard. As Grace slowly pieces together clues that might lead to answers, she struggles to find a place in a community that rejects her for reasons she doesn' t understand. In Mazin Grace, Dylan Coleman fictionalises her mother' s childhood at the Koonibba Lutheran Mission in South Australia in the 1940s and ' 50s. Woven through the narrative are the powerful, rhythmic sounds of Aboriginal English and Kokatha language, Mazin Grace is the inspirational story of a feisty girl who refuses to be told who she is, determined to uncover the truth for herself.

Winner of the David Unaipon Award, an engaging, moving and often funny yarn about growing up in the home of two Aunties running a sheep farm in rural Gundagai. Growing up in the shifting landscape of Gundagai with her Nan and Aunties, Sunny spends her days playing on the hills near their farmhouse and her nights dozing by the fire, listening to the big women yarn about life over endless cups of tea. It is a life of freedom, protection and love. But as Sunny grows she must face the challenge of being seen as different, and of having a mother whose visits are as unpredictable as the rain. Based on Jeanine Leane' s own childhood, these funny, endearing and thought-provoking stories offer a snapshot of a unique Australian upbringing.

When the Blackouts' star player Nevil Dooley wakes one morning to don a frock and 'eyeshada', his mother's idle days at the bingo hall are gone forever. Mystified and clueless, single parent Mavis takes to bush-cunning and fast footwork to unravel the mystery behind this sudden change of face. Funny and cleverly covert, too, this is a truthful rendering of small-town prejudice and racist attitudes. Hilarity prevails while desperation builds in the race to save Nevil from the savage consequences of his discovery in a town where a career in footy is a young black man' s only escape. Neither pig shoots, bust-ups at the Two Dogs, bare-knuckle sessions in the shed nor even a police siege can slow the countdown on this human timebomb.

A Stolen Generations story of astounding courage: three Aboriginal girls, taken from their mothers, escape barefoot back to their beloved homeland in East Pilbara. This is the true account of Nugi Garimara' s mother, Molly, made legendary by the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. In 1931 Molly led her two sisters on an extraordinary 1600-kilometre walk across remote Western Australia. Aged eight, eleven and fourteen, they escaped the confinement of a government institution for Aboriginal children removed from their families. Barefoot, without provisions or maps, tracked by Native Police and search planes, the girls followed the rabbit-proof fence, knowing it would lead them home. Their journey – longer than many of the celebrated treks of recognised explorers – reveals a past more cruel than we could ever imagine.

From a unique personal perspective, thirteen women tell of their journeys towards the significant achievement of a university degree. Although from different backgrounds, language groups and experiences, these women share the common thread of Aboriginal heritage. Some combined their studies with the challenge of family responsibilities while others pursued academic degrees as younger students. Their various paths to achieving their degrees led them to universities across Australia and even to prestigious Harvard University.

When May' s mother dies suddenly, she and her brother Billy are taken in by Aunty. However, their loss leaves them both searching for their place in a world that doesn' t seem to want them. While Billy takes his own destructive path, May sets out to find her father and her Aboriginal identity. Her journey leads her from the Australian east coast to the far north, but it is the people she meets, not the destinations, that teach her what it is to belong. Swallow the Air is an unforgettable story of living in a torn world and finding the thread to help sew it back together.

' Is that you … ?' Matron' s voice would ring out across the dormitory. In that pause sixty little girls would stop in their tracks, waiting to hear who was in trouble. All too often the name called out would be that of the high-spirited dormitory girl Ruthie. In the Depression years, Queensland' s notorious Cherbourg Aboriginal Mission became home to four-year-old Ruth until her late teens when she was sent out to serve as a domestic on a station homestead. Ruthie is the central character in this lively and candid memoir of institutional life. Her milestones and memories reflect the experiences of many dormitory girls. The strong and lasting bonds that developed between them all helped to compensate for family love and support denied them by the government's disruptive removal policy. An inspiring life story, this remarkable memoir won the David Unaipon Award in 1998.

Hours after rejecting the Corrowa People' s native title claim on Brisbane' s Meston Park, Justice Bruce Brosnan is brutally murdered in his home. Days later, lawyers against the claim are also found dead. Aboriginal people were once prohibited from entering Brisbane' s city limits at night, and Meston Park stood on the boundary. The Corrowa' s matriarch, Ethel Cobb, is convinced the murders are the work of an ancient assassin who has returned to destroy the boundary, but Aboriginal lawyer Miranda Eversely isn't so sure. When the Premier is kidnapped, the pressure to find the killer intensifies ... While the investigation forces Detective Sergeant Jason Matthews to confront his buried heritage, Miranda battles a sense of personal failure at the Corrowa' s defeat. How close will it take her to the edge of self-destruction?