Indigenous Australian literature

Indigenous Australian literature is the fiction, plays, poems, essays and other works authored by

people of Australia.

While a letter written by

, 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,

written by an Aboriginal person, Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines (1924–5), and was the first Aboriginal author to be published.

The

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

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

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

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women writers have also been well represented in the

Poetry

Poets such as

Online repositories

• AustLit's
  BlackWords project provides a comprehensive listing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and storytellers, past and present.^[15]
• The Living Archive of Aboriginal Languages contains works written in traditional languages of the Northern Territory.

Notable authors

Further reading

• Mudrooroo (1997). Indigenous Literature of Australia: Milli Milli Wangka. South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Hyland House.
  OCLC 37488798
  .

• Saunders, Mykaela, ed. (2022). This All Come Back Now: An Anthology of First Nations Speculative Fiction. St Lucia, Queensland, Australia: University of Queensland Press.
  OCLC 1293838925
  .

• Wheeler, Belinda, ed. (2013). A Companion to Australian Aboriginal Literature. Rochester, New York, USA: Camden House.
  OCLC 852158554
  .

• Althans, Katrin (2010). Darkness Subverted: Aboriginal Gothic in Black Australian Literature and Film. Representations & Reflections. Goettingen, Germany: V&R unipress GmbH: Bonn University Press.
  OCLC 505424133
  .

See also

• Australian literature
• List of Indigenous Australian writers
• Contemporary Indigenous Australian art
• Indigenous music of Australia
• Fijian literature
• Hawaiian literature
• New Zealand literature
• Papua New Guinean literature
• Samoan literature
• Tongan literature
• Indigenous literatures in Canada
• Native American literature

References

External links

• Priority Languages Support Project Archived 24 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine (First Languages Australia)
• BlackWords, AustLit
• black&write, State Library of Queensland