I am pleased to announce that ANZ LitLovers will again be hosting Indigenous Literature Week in July to coincide with NAIDOC Week here in Australia. (3 to 10 July). This is a week when Australians celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and this year the NAIDOC Week theme is Songlines: The living narrative of our nation.
ANZ LitLovers’ contribution to NAIDOC is to celebrate all forms of Indigenous Writing, and I hope that many of my readers will join in and read a book by an Indigenous author.
If you would like to participate, your choice of indigenous literature isn’t restricted just to Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Maori literature. Participants are welcome to join in reading indigenous literature from anywhere in the world, from Canada to Guyana, from Native American to Basque to Pashtun or Ixcatec. (For a list of indigenous people of the world, see this list at Wikipedia.) As to how we define indigenous, that’s up to indigenous people themselves. If they identify as indigenous themselves, well, that’s good enough for me.
Thanks to contributions from a fantastic bunch of participants in previous years of ILW the reading list is growing. For reasons of space and time and personal preference my reading list is mostly literary fiction titles by indigenous Australian and New Zealand authors but participants are free to choose any form you like – short story, memoir, biography, whatever takes your fancy! The permanent link to my reading list (and to other useful reading lists) is on the ANZLL Indigenous Literature Reading List in the top menu.
Thanks to all those who joined in last year and have encouraged me to host the week again.
Interested?
- If you’d like to participate simply say so in comments below. Tell us what you think you might read in the comments box to help spread awareness of what’s available. . You never know, you might encourage someone else to try the book too! (You can always change your mind later if you want to).
- Bookmark the page for Reviews from Indigenous Literature Week at ANZ LitLovers 2016 so that you can use the comments box there either
- to provide the URL of your review on your blog, your Goodreads page or your Library Thing page, or
- to share your thoughts as a comment and then I’ll add it to the reading list.
- If you would like to write a guest review of your book for ANZLL I will happily host it here too.
As usual I’ve been hoarding books for this year’s ILW. First, some vintage titles from the TBR:
- The Dream Swimmer (Raupo, 1997) by Maori author Witi Ihimara of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki descent. It’s actually No #2 in the Mahana Family series, but I haven’t been able to source No #1 The Matriarch.)
- Tu (Penguin, 2004) by Maori author Patricia Grace of Ngati Toa, Ngati Raukawa and Te Ati Awa descent. Tu won the 2005 Montana NZ Book Award.
And a couple of new releases
- Inside My Mother (Giramondo, 2015), by Ali Cobby Eckermann, who identifies with the Yankunytjatjara / Kokatha people from the north west desert country of South Australia.
- Of Ashes and Rivers That Flow to the Sea, (Vintage/ Penguin Random House, 2016), by Marie Munkara, of Rembarranga descent
PS Please use the #IndigLitWeek & #NAIDOC hashtags on Twitter.
ANZ LitLovers LitBlog 
Oh I loved Tu when I read it a few years ago – I am a huge Patricia Grace fan. I would love to join in. I have a number of books on my tbr including Baby No-Eyes by Patricia Grace, Carpentaria and The Swan Book by Alexis Wright, Benang by Kim Scott and Am I Black Enough For You by Anita Heiss.
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By: sharkell on June 8, 2016
at 6:58 pm
Excellent, welcome aboard!
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By: Lisa Hill on June 8, 2016
at 7:12 pm
I will try to contribute but no idea which book I’ll do. I think I only have one Australian one on my TBR. I know I have at least one Native American one, but I think I want to do Australian. I’ll have a rummage and then try to squeeze one in!!
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By: whisperinggums on June 8, 2016
at 11:26 pm
That’s great, thanks Sue:)
Last year was a strong year for indigenous new releases, but I haven’t come across many new titles yet. So it’s a good year to have a rummage for those books that have been around or a while.
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By: Lisa Hill on June 9, 2016
at 9:12 am
So glad you are doing this again. I’d love to be included, but my sources for books by Australian authors of any kind are much more limited than in previous years. I will let you know what I find.
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By: mdbrady on June 9, 2016
at 9:57 am
Hi Marilyn, it would be great to have you join us, your reviews of OzLit are always so interesting because you have an international perspective!
But don’t forget, you can choose an indigenous author from anywhere in the world:)
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By: Lisa Hill on June 9, 2016
at 10:10 am
How frustrating this is proving to be. I was sure my TBR would offer up something that would enable me to join you for the week. But although I have books from many different countries I can’t find a single one by an indigenous author. All of which points to why your Indigenous Lit Week plays an important role
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By: BookerTalk on June 9, 2016
at 5:09 pm
I hope so, Karen. After all, stories from the oldest living culture in the world are pretty special!
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By: Lisa Hill on June 9, 2016
at 5:22 pm
I’m in. I keep promising to read Benang, I hope I do this year. Otherwise I have Finding Eliza. And I heartily recommend Lizzie Marrkilyi Ellis’ memoir Pictures From My Memory
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By: wadholloway on June 9, 2016
at 9:39 pm
I am finding it hard to resist buying Finding Eliza. But I have spent so much money on books lately!
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By: Lisa Hill on June 10, 2016
at 2:28 am
Yes, me too, but for the record I’m going to do Ruby Moonlight by Ali Cobby Eckermann. I may not do more but I’ll do that one at least. Chosen partly because it hasn’t yet been posted for the AWW Challenge so I can get another book on there, support your week, and read my first ACE!
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By: whisperinggums on June 10, 2016
at 6:29 pm
A trifecta!
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By: Lisa Hill on June 10, 2016
at 10:48 pm
I’m excited to participate in Indigenous Literature Week this year. There are more works of literature being published by Australian Aboriginal writers. I’m glad that Lisa has emphasized inclusion of indigenous writings from different countries and regions as well as writers who identify themselves as indigenous. At a later date, I plan to search for literature produced by Native American authors from Canada as well as Maori writers from New Zealand. For ILW 2016, I would like to commit to reading the following books:
Ghost River by Tony Birch (novel)
Of Ashes and Rivers that Run to the Sea by Marie Munkara (memoir)
Grace Beside Me by Sue McPherson (young adult novel)
The Swan Book by Alexis Wright (novel)
For ANZ Lit blog readers who are undecided on books to read, I would like to recommend the following titles:
Am I Black Enough for You by Anita Heiss (memoir)
Becoming Kirali Lewis by Jane Harrison (young adult novel)
Too Afraid to Cry by Ali Cobby Eckermann (memoir)
Heat and Light by Ellen Van Neerven (short story collection)
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By: smaxine27 on June 11, 2016
at 2:57 am
Fantastic! And thank you so much for those suggestions, there are some there that I don’t know of, and will be adding them to my TBR ASAP.
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By: Lisa Hill on June 11, 2016
at 8:06 am
[…] Join up here! […]
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By: Reminder: Indigenous Literature Week at ANZ LitLovers July 3-10 | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog on June 25, 2016
at 11:24 am
I am going to try & join again this year. The plan,as always is to read something about the Aboriginal tribe that was in the Wagga Wagga area if NSW. Will keep reading the comments incase there are suggestions!
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By: Julie Goucher on June 25, 2016
at 2:54 pm
I’ll hunt around and see if I can find something for you… here you go, it’s not written by an indigenous author but it is about the the Wagga Wagga region whose traditional owners are the Wiradjuri people. It’s The Yalda Crossing by Noel Beddoe, it’s available in Kindle Edition and I reviewed it here. https://anzlitlovers.com/2012/08/13/the-yalda-crossing-by-noel-beddoe/
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By: Lisa Hill on June 25, 2016
at 4:08 pm
PS These ones are authored by Wiradjuri people and they are mostly available as eBooks. Locate them at GoodReads for the details:
Talking to My People by Stan Grant https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/03/02/talking-to-my-country-by-stan-grant/;
Bridge of Triangles by John Muk Muk Bourke available from UQP http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/Book.aspx/251/Bridge%20Of%20Triangles
Anything by Anita Heiss who writes both serious journalism and what she calls Choclit http://www.anitaheiss.com/bookshelf.html
Swallow the Air Tara June Winch, my review is at https://anzlitlovers.com/2012/03/22/swallow-the-air-by-tara-june-winch/
Purple Threads by Jeanine Leane see my review https://anzlitlovers.com/2012/07/02/purple-threads-by-jeanine-leane/ available as an eBook
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By: Lisa Hill on June 25, 2016
at 4:33 pm
Lisa, thanks for these. When I am home I will keep a better list, in the meantime will add them to LibraryThing.
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By: Julie Goucher on June 25, 2016
at 5:37 pm
In terms of Wagga Wagga area, I’d go with Purple threads, which is set around Gundagai so not all that far from Wagga. Wiradjuri is one of the biggest nations I think, and some of their books are set a long way from Wagga. Just my 2 cents worth.
I don’t know Bridge of triangles, so can’t comment on its location.
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By: whisperinggums on June 25, 2016
at 5:40 pm
Yes, you’re right, and Purple Threads is recent so may be more readily available too from overseas.
(I am just so pleased that international readers are joining in!)
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By: Lisa Hill on June 25, 2016
at 6:05 pm
Yes, it’s great to see – well done for persevering!
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By: whisperinggums on June 25, 2016
at 6:56 pm
I really enjoy taking part & the Internet for making all those miles “vanish”
I shared it with my local library page in FB & my own page so others from the UK might take part.
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By: Julie Goucher on June 26, 2016
at 5:29 pm
They would be fantastic!
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By: Lisa Hill on June 26, 2016
at 5:51 pm
Many thanks for that. I am going with Purple Threads – I know the Gundagai area from my travels 20+ years ago.
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By: Julie Goucher on June 25, 2016
at 8:33 pm
Fantastic, I look forward to hearing what you think o it:)
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By: Lisa Hill on June 25, 2016
at 11:20 pm
Thanks for this. I now have a download of this, so happy reading!
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By: Julie Goucher on June 26, 2016
at 5:33 pm
Wonderful and thanks for the invitation Lisa! I’m going with poetry and short stories – I’ll revisit Kevin Gilbert and Oodgeroo Noonuccal and hopefully some others. I never get tired of reading Kevin’s poem ‘Unity’ and it has become a special performance piece for our spoken word choir, Making Waves!
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By: mairineilcreative writer on June 25, 2016
at 10:22 pm
Ah, that will be lovely. I used to read Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poetry to the kids at school, and they lover it:)
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By: Lisa Hill on June 25, 2016
at 11:21 pm
I’m planning on getting through some of Marie Munkara’s books. Looking forward to participating!
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By: Jess White on June 26, 2016
at 6:44 pm
That’s great, Jess, thanks!
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By: Lisa Hill on June 26, 2016
at 9:25 pm
Hi Lisa
I plan on joining in once again. I have perused my shelves and found a copy of Home by Larissa Behrendt. Her first novel and a first from this author for me too. Thanks for hosting and I look forward to reading all the reviews of the fellow participants.
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By: Jenny Snell (@wellreadisjen) on June 27, 2016
at 6:02 am
That’s great, Jenny, and I look forward to hearing about Home in due course. It was Behrendt’s first book, I think…
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By: Lisa Hill on June 27, 2016
at 3:23 pm
[…] week, from 3rd to 10th of July, Lisa at ANZLitlovers is running her now annual Indigenous Literature Week. While she usually holds it during or near Australia’s NAIDOC Week in order to support that […]
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By: Monday musings on Australian literature: Recent books by Indigenous Australians | Whispering Gums on June 27, 2016
at 11:32 pm
[…] This is the fourth in my occasional series of Spotlight posts inspired by Annette Marfording’s Celebrating Australian Writing: Conversations with Australian Authors, and this time I’m featuring an indigenous author to coincide with Lisa’s (ANZLitLovers) Indigenous Literature Week. […]
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By: Monday musings on Australian literature: Spotlight on Larissa Behrendt | Whispering Gums on July 4, 2016
at 11:01 pm
HI Lisa, I am participating again this year, but didn’t have time to really think about it until Friday night. At any rate I found Auntie Rita by Rita Huggins and Jackie Huggins in my TBR so I had a lovely time reading that on Saturday. I am about to post my review.
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By: perkinsy on July 10, 2016
at 2:09 pm
That’s great, Yvonne:)
Don’t worry, I accept any reviews to the end of the month, the idea of the ‘week’ is really just to focus attention on NAIDOC week as well.
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By: Lisa Hill on July 10, 2016
at 4:21 pm