A Long Way From No Go/Growing Up

Tjanara is a Wakka Wakka/Wulli Wulli woman  from Central Queensland and carries the traditions of her clan through medicine practice, being a Songwoman and teaching Aboriginal Law & Spirituality to people throughout the world. Tjanara is a published poet, writer, performer of traditional song and dance and contemporary Murri artist.  For 30 years Tjanara has been working with groups and organisations in Australia and overseas in transformational leadership mentoring, cultural education and Indigenous knowledge systems, cultural systemic change and sacred leadership. Tjanara is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Canberra and a PhD Researcher/lecturer at the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University. She has been an academic at five Australian Universities, and a Director at two, including as Foundation Director at Charles Sturt University, NSW and Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Education at the University of Melbourne. Tjanara has extensive public service background in the Federal Government and NSW/QLD State Government as a Director and Senior Policy Advisor in Prime Minister & Cabinet, the Office of Indigenous Policy Co-ordination, Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade and a number of statutory authorities. 

Tjanara has travelled and worked extensively overseas, in Italy, Denmark, India, Europe and the USA and Canada, delivering Keynote speeches at International conferences, workshops at International Indigenous “Healing Our Spirits Worldwide” Conference and Indigenous International Education Conferences, the Soul Conference at St Catherine’s University, Minnesota and  at national Indigenous Psychology, Education, Community Development and Higher Education conferences.  She attended the 2013 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples as the Chair of the Foundation for Indigenous Recovery & Development as a member of the Indigenous Peoples Organisation (IP)) convened by the Social Justice Commissioner Australian Human Rights Commission .

Tjanara is an inspiring co-creator of engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples through using her own stories, art, writings, songs and dances passed to her from generations of knowledge and wisdom in her clans and the shared CIRCLEs she co-creates for holding healing and shared story/history. 

Tjanara wrote The Red Earth as a novel. It became a finalist in the David Unaipon Award, QLD Premiers’ Literary in 2010.  A Long Way from No Go, her memoir, is based on The Red Earth.  Tjanara is a published poet in Penquin’s Inside Black Australia An Anthology of Aboriginal Poetry Edited by Kevin Gilbert.  Tjanara has a PhD ‘Tjukurpa Pulka – The Road to Eldership from the Australian National University gained in 2018.  

Anita Heiss is an internationally published, award-winning author of 25 books across genres. She's a proud member of the Wiradyuri Nation, a Lifetime Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. 

Anita adapted her novel Tiddas for the stage and it premiered at La Boite as part of the 2022 Brisbane Festival, and was featured in the Sydney Festival, 2024.

Anita is Publisher at Large for the First Nations imprint Bundyi (Simon & Schuster, Australia). She enjoys running, eating chocolate and being a creative disruptor.