‘A book that should be read by all Australians’: Clare Wright wins book of the year at the NSW Literary awards
Summary
A book by Melbourne historian Clare Wright called Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions won the top prize at the NSW literary awards for nonfiction. The book tells the story of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions, important documents created by Aboriginal elders in 1963 that helped start land rights laws in Australia.Key Facts
- Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions won the $10,000 book of the year award and the $40,000 Douglas Stewart prize for nonfiction.
- The book is about the Yirrkala Bark Petitions, which were presented by Yolŋu elders to the Australian parliament in 1963.
- These petitions protested the government allowing a French mining company to operate on part of Aboriginal land in Arnhem Land.
- The petitions helped lead to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, the first land rights law in Australia.
- Clare Wright spent 10 years working with the Yirrkala community to write the 640-page book.
- The book is part of Wright’s “democracy trilogy” about important moments in Australian political history.
- Wright received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2020 for her contributions to literature and historical research.
- Other winners at the NSW literary awards included Moreno Giovannoni for fiction and S Shakthidharan for a multicultural memoir.
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