The Yield

Author: Tara June Winch
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063003481
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
Winner of the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award and 2021 Kate Challis RAKA Award! "A beautifully written novel that puts language at the heart of remembering the past and understanding the present."—Kate Morton “A groundbreaking novel for black and white Australia.”—Richard Flanagan, Man Booker Prize winning author of The Narrow Road to the Deep North A young Australian woman searches for her grandfather's dictionary, the key to halting a mining company from destroying her family's home and ancestral land in this exquisitely written, heartbreaking, yet hopeful novel of culture, language, tradition, suffering, and empowerment in the tradition of Louise Erdrich, Sandra Cisneros, and Amy Harmon. Knowing that he will soon die, Albert “Poppy” Gondiwindi has one final task he must fulfill. A member of the indigenous Wiradjuri tribe, he has spent his adult life in Prosperous House and the town of Massacre Plains, a small enclave on the banks of the Murrumby River. Before he takes his last breath, Poppy is determined to pass on the language of his people, the traditions of his ancestors, and everything that was ever remembered by those who came before him. The land itself aids him; he finds the words on the wind. After his passing, Poppy’s granddaughter, August, returns home from Europe, where she has lived the past ten years, to attend his burial. Her overwhelming grief is compounded by the pain, anger, and sadness of memory—of growing up in poverty before her mother’s incarceration, of the racism she and her people endured, of the mysterious disappearance of her sister when they were children; an event that has haunted her and changed her life. Her homecoming is bittersweet as she confronts the love of her kin and news that Prosperous is to be repossessed by a mining company. Determined to make amends and honor Poppy and her family, she vows to save their land—a quest guided by the voice of her grandfather that leads into the past, the stories of her people, the secrets of the river. Told in three masterfully woven narratives, The Yield is a celebration of language and an exploration of what makes a place "home." A story of a people and a culture dispossessed, it is also a joyful reminder of what once was and what endures—a powerful reclaiming of Indigenous language, storytelling, and identity, that offers hope for the future.

The Yield: Winner of the 2020 Miles Franklin Award

Author: Tara June Winch
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 1760143677
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
The yield in English is the reaping, the things that man can take from the land. In the language of the Wiradjuri yield is the things you give to, the movement, the space between things: baayanha. Knowing that he will soon die, Albert ‘Poppy’ Gondiwindi takes pen to paper. His life has been spent on the banks of the Murrumby River at Prosperous House, on Massacre Plains. Albert is determined to pass on the language of his people and everything that was ever remembered. He finds the words on the wind. August Gondiwindi has been living on the other side of the world for ten years when she learns of her grandfather’s death. She returns home for his burial, wracked with grief and burdened with all she tried to leave behind. Her homecoming is bittersweet as she confronts the love of her kin and news that Prosperous is to be repossessed by a mining company. Determined to make amends she endeavours to save their land – a quest that leads her to the voice of her grandfather and into the past, the stories of her people, the secrets of the river. Profoundly moving and exquisitely written, Tara June Winch’s The Yield is the story of a people and a culture dispossessed. But it is as much a celebration of what was and what endures, and a powerful reclaiming of Indigenous language, storytelling and identity.

Swallow the Air

Author: Tara June Winch
Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press
ISBN: 0702250562
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 105

Book Description
In 2006, Tara June Winch's startling debut Swallow the Air was published to acclaim. Its poetic yet visceral style announced the arrival a fresh and exciting new talent. This 10th anniversary edition celebrates its important contribution to Australian literature. 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.

The White Girl

Author: Tony Birch
Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press
ISBN: 0702262056
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
A searing new novel from leading Indigenous storyteller Tony Birch that explores the lengths we will go to in order to save the people we love.Odette Brown has lived her whole life on the fringes of a small country town. After her daughter disappeared and left her with her granddaughter Sissy to raise on her own, Odette has managed to stay under the radar of the welfare authorities who are removing fair-skinned Aboriginal children from their families. When a new policeman arrives in town, determined to enforce the law, Odette must risk everything to save Sissy and protect everything she loves. In The White Girl, Miles-Franklin-shortlisted author Tony Birch shines a spotlight on the 1960s and the devastating government policy of taking Indigenous children from their families.

The Returns

Author: Philip Salom
Publisher: Transit Lounge
ISBN: 1925760316
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
Elizabeth posts a 'room for rent' notice in Trevor's bookshop and is caught off-guard when Trevor answers the ad himself. She expected a young student not a middle-aged bookseller whose marriage has fallen apart. But Trevor is attracted to Elizabeth's house because of the empty shed in her backyard, the perfect space for him to revive the artistic career he abandoned years earlier. The face-blind, EH Holden-driving Elizabeth is a solitary and feisty book editor, and she accepts him, on probation... Miles Franklin finalist Philip Salom has a gift for depicting the inner states of his characters with empathy and insight. In this poignant yet upbeat novel the past keeps returning in the most unexpected ways. Elizabeth is at the beck and call of her ageing mother, and the associated memories of her childhood in a Rajneesh community. Trevor's Polish father disappeared when Trevor was fifteen, and his mother died not knowing whether he was dead or alive. The authorities have declared him dead, but is he? The Returns is a story about the eccentricities, failings and small triumphs that humans are capable of, a novel that pokes fun at literary and artistic pretensions, while celebrating the expansiveness of art, kindness and friendship. 'Philip Salom...dissects the vulnerabilities of the human condition (loneliness, fear of intimacy, powerlessness, guilt), the power of the past to haunt us, the fear of the future to mire us, and the redemptive effects of love and acceptance.' — Miles Franklin Award Judges on Waiting 'A tour de force of sustained affection and wit.' — Australian Book Review on Waiting

Finding Eliza

Author: Larissa Behrendt
Publisher: Univ. of Queensland Press
ISBN: 0702256315
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Book Description
A vital Aboriginal perspective on colonial storytelling Indigenous lawyer and writer Larissa Behrendt has long been fascinated by the story of Eliza Fraser, who was purportedly captured by the local Butchulla people after she was shipwrecked on their island 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 colonizers' stories. Citing works as diverse as Robinson Crusoe and Coonardoo, she explores the tropes in these accounts, such as the supposed promiscuity of Aboriginal women, the Europeans' fixation on cannibalism, and the myth of the noble savage. Ultimately, Behrendt shows how these stories not only reflect the values of their storytellers but also reinforce those values – which in Australia led to the dispossession of Aboriginal people and the laws enforced against them.

Carpentaria

Author: Alexis Wright
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439157847
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 530

Book Description
Steeped in myth and magical realism, this story exposes the heartbreaking realities of Aboriginal life as indigenous tribes fight to protect their natural resources, sacred sites, and above all, their people.

The Lost Arabs

Author: Omar Sakr
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ISBN: 1524860476
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 89

Book Description
Award-winning Arab Australian poet Omar Sakr presents a pulsating collection of poetry that interrogates the bonds and borders of family, faith, queerness, and nationality. Visceral and energetic, Sakr’s poetry confronts the complicated notion of “belonging” when one’s family, culture, and country are at odds with one’s personal identity. Braiding together sexuality and divinity, conflict and redemption, The Lost Arabs is a fierce, urgent collection from a distinct new voice.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone

Author: Benjamin Stevenson
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063279045
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 374

Book Description
Curl up with this page-turning mystery perfect for fall Knives Out and Clue meet Agatha Christie and The Thursday Murder Club in this “utterly original” (Jane Harper), “not to be missed” (Karin Slaughter), fiendishly clever blend of classic and modern murder mystery. “A witty twist on classic whodunits… Stevenson not only 'plays fair,' he plays the mystery game very, very well.” -- Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post Everyone in my family has killed someone. Some of us, the high achievers, have killed more than once. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but it is the truth. Some of us are good, others are bad, and some just unfortunate. I’m Ernest Cunningham. Call me Ern or Ernie. I wish I’d killed whoever decided our family reunion should be at a ski resort, but it’s a little more complicated than that. Have I killed someone? Yes. I have. Who was it? Let’s get started. EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE My brother My stepsister My wife My father My mother My sister-in-law My uncle My stepfather My aunt Me

Kokomo

Author: Victoria Hannan
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0733643337
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
'It does not disappoint.' - The Guardian When Mina receives an urgent call from her best friend back in Melbourne, her world is turned upside down. Her reclusive mother, Elaine, has left the house for the first time in twelve years. Mina drops everything to fly home, only to discover that Elaine will not talk about her sudden return to the world, nor why she's spent so much time hiding from it. Their reunion leaves Mina raking through pieces of their painful past in a bid to uncover the truth. Both tender and fierce, heartbreaking and funny, Kokomo is a story about how secrets and love have the power to bring us together and tear us apart. 'A timely song of secrets, sex and the meaning of love' - Sydney Morning Herald 'A coming-of-age novel for the Peter Pan generation, Kokomo juggles the dissatisfactions of sex, marriage, and corporate ambition with deceptive lightness and radiant empathy. Reading this book felt like drinking with friends in a cozy pub until last call; I emerged from it shiny-faced, unbothered by the cold, wanting more.' - Laura Elizabeth Woollett, author of THE LOVE OF A BAD MAN and BEAUTIFUL REVOLUTIONARY 'This is a book that gets right into your body. It makes you laugh, makes you think, but it doesn't stop there - it plays with your heart and leaves it different. This is smart, raw, tender fiction that feels as real as life.' - Ronnie Scott, author of THE ADVERSARY 'Graceful and raw, this is a remarkable study of the forces of desire and regret. Hannan is both acute witness and masterful reporter of love in all its faulty and essential shapes. Kokomo dazzles, pierces, and stays.' - Robert Lukins, author of THE EVERLASTING SUNDAY 'I can't remember being so excited by a debut novel. Kokomo is a delight, a book I wanted to finish in a greedy rush but one I also wanted to savour. It's so full of life, on each page there are tiny moments of delight, irreverence, tenderness. Kokomo is the Australian response to Normal People, this is Monkey Grip for the new generation of readers. This book will be read and cherished by many, and Victoria Hannan is a name we will see a great deal more in the future.' - J.P. Pomare, author of CALL ME EVIE and IN THE CLEARING 'Hannan's Kokomo is a sharply observed novel of one woman's facade and how it falls; an undoing that is both ordinary and compelling. This debut heralds an exciting new Australian voice with a story of estrangement from kin, friendship, love, self and country - one that will be familiar to many, and surprising, for it is often a shock to see one's reflection.' - Anna Krien, author of NIGHT GAMES and ACT OF GRACE