NPR Best Books of 2018
“Coleman’s timely debut is testimony to the power of an old story seen afresh through new eyes.” —Adelaide Advertiser
“In our politically tumultuous time, the novel’s themes of racism, inherent humanity and freedom are particularly poignant.” —Books + Publishing
The Natives of the Colony are restless. The Settlers are eager to have a nation of peace and to bring the savages into line. Families are torn apart. Reeducation is enforced. This rich land will provide for all.
This is not the Australia we know. This is not the Australia of the history books. Terra Nullius is something new, but all too familiar.
Shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize Indie Book Awards and Highly Commended for the Victorian Premiers Literary Awards, Terra Nullius is an incredible debut from a striking new Australian Aboriginal voice.
Jacky was running. There was no thought in his head, only an intense drive to run. There was no sense he was getting anywhere, no plan, no destination, no future. All he had was a sense of what was behind, what he was running from. Jacky was running.
Claire G. Coleman is a writer from Western Australia. She identifies with the South Coast Noongar people. Her family are associated with the area around Ravensthorpe and Hopetoun. Claire grew up in a Forestry’s settlement in the middle of a tree plantation, where her dad worked, not far out of Perth. She wrote her black&write! fellowship- winning manuscript Terra Nullius while traveling around Australia in a caravan.
A propos de l’auteur
Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays and poetry while (mostly) traveling around the continent now called Australia in a ragged caravan towed by an ancient troopy (the car has earned “vintage” status). Born in Perth, away from her ancestral country she has lived most of her life in Victoria and most of that in and around Melbourne. During an extended circuit of the continent she wrote a novel, influenced by certain experiences gained on the road. She has since won a Black&Write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship for that novel, Terra Nullius.