{"id":3318,"date":"2026-05-27T10:00:47","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T00:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/?p=3318"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:49:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T03:49:57","slug":"explore-10-books-by-first-nations-writers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/explore-10-books-by-first-nations-writers\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore 10 books by First Nations Australian writers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It should come as no surprise that reading is one of our favourite ways to explore new worlds, experience life in someone else\u2019s shoes and expand our knowledge of history. The library has millions of books, videos and journals in our collection \u2013 including hundreds of books by and about First Nations peoples<\/strong> in Australia.<\/p>\n

While nonfiction and essays provide valuable historical context and information, novels offer writers a chance to imagine alternative histories and tell stories \u2013 both playful and painful \u2013 through fiction. Both forms are essential reading for non-Indigenous Australians<\/strong>, and we have recommendations across multiple genres.<\/p>\n

Here are 10 books by First Nations Australian writers<\/strong> to get you started.<\/p>\n

Summaries taken from publisher websites.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fiction<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

1. Praiseworthy<\/a><\/h3>\n

by Alexis Wright<\/p>\n

Praiseworthy<\/em>\u00a0is an epic set in the north of Australia, told with the richness of language and scale of imagery for which Alexis Wright has become renowned. In a small town dominated by a haze cloud, which heralds both an ecological catastrophe and a gathering of the ancestors, a crazed visionary seeks out donkeys as the solution to the global climate crisis and the economic dependency of the Aboriginal people. His wife seeks solace from his madness in following the dance of butterflies and scouring the internet to find out how she can seek repatriation for her Aboriginal\/Chinese family to China. One of their sons, called Aboriginal Sovereignty, is determined to commit suicide. The other, Tommyhawk, wishes his brother dead so that he can pursue his dream of becoming white and powerful. This is a novel which pushes allegory and language to its limits, a cry of outrage against oppression and disadvantage, and a fable for the end of days.<\/p>\n

\"\"2. <\/a>Too much lip<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

by Melissa Lucaschenko<\/p>\n

Wise-cracking Kerry Salter has spent a lifetime avoiding two things \u2013 her hometown and prison. But now her Pop is dying and she\u2019s an inch away from the lockup, so she heads south on a stolen Harley. Kerry plans to spend twenty-four hours,\u00a0tops<\/em>, over the border. She quickly discovers, though, that Bundjalung country has a funny way of grabbing on to people. Old family wounds open as the Salters fight to stop the development of their beloved river. And the unexpected arrival on the scene of a good-looking dugai fella intent on loving her up only adds more trouble \u2013 but then trouble is Kerry\u2019s middle name. Gritty and darkly hilarious,\u00a0Too Much Lip<\/em>\u00a0offers redemption and forgiveness where none seems possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

3. Taboo<\/a><\/h3>\n

by Kim Scott<\/p>\n

One may as well begin, ‘Once upon a time…’ Except this is no fairytale.
\nKim Scott’s powerfully charged, award-winning novel thrusts a young woman centre-stage in a vicious drama that has been playing in her family for generations – an act of extraordinary violence, and an act of extraordinary reconciliation, separated by two hundred years.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"4. Heat and light<\/a><\/h3>\n

by Ellen van Neerven<\/p>\n

In this award-winning work of fiction, Ellen van Neerven leads readers on a journey that is highly imaginative and still achingly real. Over three parts, van Neerven takes traditional storytelling and gives it a unique, contemporary twist. In \u2018Heat\u2019, we meet several generations of the Kresinger family and the legacy left by the mysterious Pearl. In \u2018Water\u2019, a futuristic world is imagined and the fate of a people threatened. In \u2018Light\u2019, familial ties are challenged and characters are caught between a desire for freedom and a sense of belonging. Heat and Light<\/em>\u00a0presents an intriguing collection that heralded the arrival of a major new talent in Australian writing.<\/p>\n

\"\"5. My spare heart<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

by Jared Thomas<\/p>\n

Phoebe’s non-Indigenous mother, a busy event manager, and her father, an Aboriginal man and uni lecturer, have split up and she’s moved to sleepy old Willunga with him and his new health-obsessed girlfriend. It’s only a few kilometres from Phoebe’s friends and the city, but it feels like another world. Her new school is full of hippies, but some of the kids are cool and the local basketball team is tight, and before long Phoebe’s fitting in. But as her mum becomes increasingly unreliable, Phoebe’s grades suffer, her place on the basketball team is under threat and her worries spiral out of control. Phoebe can’t tell her friends and if she tells her dad he’ll get angry, but pretending everything is fine is breaking her heart. How can she help her mum without tearing her family apart?<\/p>\n

Nonfiction<\/h2>\n

\"\"6. Finding Eliza: power and colonial storytelling<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

by Larissa Behrendt<\/p>\n

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\u2019s tale as a starting point to interrogate how Aboriginal people \u2013 and indigenous people of other countries \u2013 have been portrayed in their colonisers\u2019 stories.<\/p>\n

Exploring works as diverse as\u00a0Robinson Crusoe<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Coonardo<\/em>o, Behrendt looks at the stereotypes embedded in these accounts, including the assumption of cannibalism and the myth of the noble savage. Ultimately,\u00a0Finding Eliza<\/em>\u00a0shows how these stories not only reflect the values of their storytellers but also reinforce those values \u2013 and how, in Australia, this has contributed to a complex racial divide.<\/p>\n

\"\"7. Am I black enough for you?<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

by Anita Heiss<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obsessed with notions of identity? Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate advocate for Aboriginal literacy, rights and representation, was born a member of the Wiradyuri nation of central New South Wales but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school.<\/p>\n

In this heartfelt and revealing memoir, told in her distinctive, wry style, with large doses of humour, Anita Heiss gives a firsthand account of her experiences as a woman with a Wiradyuri mother and Austrian father. Anita explains the development of her activist consciousness, how she strives to be happy and healthy, and the work she undertakes every day to ensure the world she leaves behind will be more equitable and understanding than it is today.<\/p>\n

\"\"8. We come with this place<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

by Debra Dank<\/p>\n

We Come with This Place<\/em> is a remarkable book, as rich, varied and surprising as the vast landscape in which it is set. Debra Dank has created an extraordinary mosaic of vivid episodes that move about in time and place to tell an unforgettable story of country and people.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"9. Growing up Aboriginal in Australia<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

by Anita Heiss<\/p>\n

What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia? This anthology, compiled by award-winning author Anita Heiss, showcases many diverse voices, experiences and stories in order to answer that question.<\/p>\n

Accounts from well-known authors and high-profile identities sit alongside those from newly discovered writers of all ages. All of the contributors speak from the heart \u2013 sometimes calling for empathy, oftentimes challenging stereotypes, always demanding respect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"10. After the rain: 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

editors: Tony Albert and Sally Brand<\/p>\n

Colouring the Rainbow<\/em> uncovers the often hidden world of Queer and Trans Blak Australia and tells it like it is. Twenty-two First Nations people reveal their inner reflections and outlooks on family and culture, identity and respect, homophobia, transphobia, racism and decolonisation, activism, art, performance and more, through life stories and essays. The contributors to this ground-breaking book not only record the continuing relevance of traditional culture and practices, they also explain the emergence of homonormativity within the context of contemporary settler colonialism.<\/p>\n

Request other texts<\/h3>\n

If there is a book by a First Nations Australian author you think is missing from our collection, please submit\u00a0a request<\/a><\/strong> to have it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It should come as no surprise that reading is one of our favourite ways to explore new worlds, experience life in someone else\u2019s shoes and expand our knowledge of history. The library has millions of books, videos and journals in our collection \u2013 including hundreds of books by and about First Nations peoples in Australia. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33472,"featured_media":3321,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true},"categories":[25],"tags":[48],"class_list":["post-3318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","tag-indigenous-perspectives"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pao1A6-Rw","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/326\/2021\/01\/Blog-Header-First-Nations-collections.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33472"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3318"}],"version-history":[{"count":41,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7510,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions\/7510"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.deakin.edu.au\/article\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}