A new memoir of family, community and Country We Come With This Place took home the Queensland Literacy Award for Best Non-Fiction, adding to a string of recent awards.
The book, by UniSA Enterprise Fellow Dr Debra Dank, highlights how the English language fails to fully capture the essence of the more than 250 First Nation languages that were once spoken in pre-colonial Australia.
Dr Dank is a Gudanji/Wakaja woman from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory and began the book as part of a PhD in narrative theory and semiotics, in the wake of almost four decades of education experience across primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
A tribute to the Gudanji People, the book tells the stories of Country as well as perspectives and experiences from Dr Dank’s own life and those of family.
Recently, We Come With This Place was also awarded a record four out of 14 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards including the top gong, Book of the Year.
