Carpentaria: In Conversation

Raised on ancestral Country of the Wakka Wakka and also proudly Gooreng Gooreng, Sandra is a mother and grandmother. Professionally, Sandra leads cultural change as Associate Dean (Indigenous Engagement) in Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of Queensland. In 2016, Sandra won the Johnno Award for outstanding contribution to writing in Queensland, after a long career in editing and publishing with Magabala Books, UQP, ASP, and freelancing. Sandra now publishes in diverse outlets, her formal qualifications are in the social sciences and creative industries, her worldview is Aboriginal, and in the simplest terms, she joins dots and makes things happen.

Alexis Wright is a member of the Waanyi nation of the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria. The author of the prize-winning novels Carpentaria and The Swan Book, Wright has published three works of non-fiction: Take Power, an oral history of the Central Land Council; Grog War, a study of alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory; and Tracker, an award-winning collective memoir of Aboriginal leader, Tracker Tilmouth. Her books have been published widely overseas, including in China, the US, the UK, Italy, France and Poland. She held the position of Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne between 2017–2022. Wright is the only author to win both the Miles Franklin Award (in 2007 for Carpentaria) and the Stella Prize (in 2018 for Tracker). Her third novel, Praiseworthy, was published by Giramondo in April 2023.

Associate Professor Sandra Phillips is an engaged academic with research interests in Indigenous story and voice in a range of creative and media forms. Descended from the First Nations of Wakka Wakka and Gooreng Gooreng (QLD), Sandra co-ordinates university-wide Indigenous higher degree by research at UTS through the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research. Before a full-time career in the academy Sandra worked in publishing and freelanced in writing, editing, research, evaluation, speaking, and facilitation. Sandra has three adult sons and one granddaughter.