Novel co-authored with Indigenous elders wins top prize
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In Canberra, Australia, novelists Leonie Norrington and Yolngu cultural custodians Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga and Djawundil Maymuru won the $80,000 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction with their book, A Piece of Red Cloth. The novel portrays a Yolngu family in north-east Arnhem Land, Australia, as they encounter Macassan fishermen from Indonesia in the late 1600s.
The story focuses on Batjani, a matriarch, and her granddaughter Garritji, and was developed over twenty years after Clare Bush, Norrington’s adoptive Yolngu mother, requested a story that showed Indigenous history beyond the arrival of Captain Cook. Norrington collaborated with the Yolngu co-authors, working on Country and incorporating feedback from up to twenty people to ensure the story accurately reflected the community’s traditions and perspectives.
The judges praised A Piece of Red Cloth as a “landmark achievement,” highlighting its fusion of oral history, storytelling, and cultural knowledge. The book previously earned nominations for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and The Age Book of the Year, and it also won the Australian Book Industry Award for social impact. Norrington hopes the award will encourage a broader understanding of Australia’s history and recognize the fundamental connection of Indigenous people to the land.
