Yolŋu novel wins Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction
A Piece of Red Cloth, by Yolŋu knowledge holders and novelist Leonie Norrington, won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for fiction.
A Piece of Red Cloth won the fiction award at this year's Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Yolŋu knowledge holders Merrkiyawuy Ganambar-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga and Djawundil Maymuru wrote the book with novelist Leonie Norrington.
It is set in the 1600s. The story follows a Yolŋu elder protecting her granddaughter from Makassan trepang fishermen on Arnhem Land's coast.
The judges called it "a profound work of remembrance, fusing oral history, novelistic technique and deep cultural knowledge". The book also won the Australian Book Industry Award for Social Impact Book of the Year.
Journalist Kate Wild's nonfiction work The Red House won the nonfiction prize. It investigates the killing of Kumanjayi Walker and the murder trial of Constable Zachary Rolfe.
Why it mattersThese awards recognize stories that examine Australia's colonial history and identity. They promote Indigenous voices and storytelling done together in Australian literature.
AustraliaThe awards celebrate Australian writing that explores the nation's past and present. The winners are read widely in schools and universities, shaping how Australians understand their country.
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