About
Stories are powerful. They're a way to learn and connect with experiences separate to your own.
In Australia, white stories dominate the media landscape - the majority of published authors are white. To read books by non-white authors, you have to consciously aim to diversify your reading. This bookclub is a way to do that, and work to be better anti-racism allies.
This is a non-academic bookclub. We aim to be accessibly to everyday people. If you're interested in reading more academic or non-fiction books, there are a lot of excellent anti-racist reading lists available online.
The Book
For our first book, we are reading Edenglassie, by Melissa Lucashenko. It's a novel set in Magandjin (Brisbane) with two connected timelines: 1850s during the Frontier Wars, and in present-day. Melissa Lucashenko is a widely acclaimed Goorie (Aboriginal) author of Bundjalung and European heritage.
The book is available in print, ebook and audiobook. You can get it from:
Libraries - all 3 formats are available across most South-East Queensland library services
In-person - I'd recommend supporting your local independent bookshop if possible
The book is written in everyday conversational English. It includes some Yagara and Yugambeh language words. There is no included glossary, with the reader having to infer meaning based on the surrounding context.
The Event
The event will be held online on Zoom. Participants can talk verbally or in text on chat. A zoom link will be sent out closer to the date. The structure of the event is as follows:
We take turns introducing ourselves and give our first thoughts on the book.
If there's some common themes coming through from our introductions, we will continue to explore some of those in discussions. If not, the facilitator has some questions that can be used to guide further discussions.
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