I feel a moral obligation to other community blackfellas, who our awards and grants are designed for – who our elders had in mind when they fought for these gifts – to pick these issues apart, to speak on matters of identity and belonging from my own considerable and well-examined lived experience. I urge others think about identity as belonging – not as choice, but as lived in and embodied. Not made up in the mind.
Winner of the 2019 Grace Marion Wilson Emerging Writers Competition, creative non-fiction category. Judge's comments: "The poetic language in this entry is like a force of nature. I was impressed by the rhythm of it, how the writer moves from the backyard to a global vision to an impassioned call to arms about environmental degradation. The sense of place and history are beautifully evocative while being layered with a good dose of despair. Along with technique, I was looking for writing that takes artistic risks and manages a gut-punch, and this delivers."
Mykaela Saunders 