by Jared Thomas
Nukunu family members with special mention to Dad (Darryl Thomas), Aunty Margaret Smith, Darcy Evans, Uncle Doug Turner, Aunty Rose Turner, Marijhan Samy, Anarla Turner, Trent Turner and Uncle Lindsay Thomas for reading the manuscript and/or providing advice and feedback during the various stages of development.
Olive Senior – you have been a wonderful mentor and friend. Travelling with you through Jamaica and my country was a magical time. Hallelujah! Velma Pollard, Dennis, Jackie and Zoë Ranston, Norma Stanley and family for your Jamaican hospitality.
Professor Brian Castro, Dr Sue Hosking, Professor Nicholas Jose for PhD supervision including guidance in the development of the novel. Brenda Croft, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Anita Heiss, Ingereth Macfarlane and Malcolm McKinnon for commenting on drafts and recommending references. Professor Peter Buckskin, Professor Alan Mayne and the staff of the David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research of the University of South Australia for providing space to learn and write.
Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith and the staff of the School of Māori and Pacific Development of the University of Waikato for a life-changing experience.
The Black&Write team: Sue Abbey, Ellen van Neerven-Currie and Linda McBride-Yuke at the State Library of Queensland, with special thanks to Ellen for your editorial prowess. Lyn Tranter for pushing the work in new directions.
Sharon Mascall-Dare and the BBC for documenting some of the developmental process. The Australia Awards Endeavour Research Fellowship for Indigenous Australians.
Friends that took the time to hear me read and talk about this work as it developed.
The team at Magabala Books.
Launched in 2010, the black&write! project is committed to the development of Indigenous editors and fostering Indigenous writing talent. Based at the State Library of Queensland, the project includes an annual writing competition, training of editors and provides workshops and mentoring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers. In addition, the project provides training for OnScreen editors based regionally, who work online from their communities. This aspect of the project is made possible through funding from the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts.
The black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship competition is open nationally to both published and new Indigenous authors of fiction including children’s books, short stories and poetry. Two fellowships are awarded each year and the winning authors work with the black&write! editors to develop their manuscripts for publication by Magabala Books. The partnership between the State Library of Queensland and Magabala is central to black&write! and supports the project’s aims of providing long term professional development for writers and editors, and bringing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories to readers worldwide.
For further information on the black&write! project please visit the State Library of Queensland website.
“The competition gave me wings. I would have been too intimidated to push it through other avenues to get published.” Sue McPherson, author of Grace Beside Me, and inaugural winner of the black&write! competition.