Writing Country

Thu 5 May 2022

kuril dhagun, level 1, State Library

Free event

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

Writing Country is writing about past, present and future. Pakana author Adam Thompson’s depiction of Trouwunna/Lutruwita disrupts violent colonial narratives of “the last Tasmanian Aboriginal”, while Fiona Foley’s diverse body of work evokes the sand and sea of her ancestral homelands of K’Gari.

Adam Thompson in conversation with Fiona Foley

#Artists

Adam Thompson

Adam Thompson is an emerging Aboriginal (pakana) writer from Tasmania, who writes contemporary short fiction. In 2016-17, Adam received writing awards through the Tamar Valley Writers Festival and the Tasmanian Writers and Readers Festival.

Adam has been awarded a First Nations Fellowship at Varuna, The Writers House, several Arts Tasmania grants, and was one of ten recipients of The Next Chapter initiative through the Wheeler Centre. His debut collection Born Into This was shortlisted for the USQ Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection and the 2021 Age Book of the Year Award.

Fiona Foley

Dr Foley was awarded, The Inaugural Monica Clare Research Fellowship 2020 from the State Library of Queensland towards a publication entitled, Bogimbah Creek Mission: The First Aboriginal Experiment. In addition, Dr Foley is the 2020 recipient of the highly prestigious, Capstone Editing Early Career Academic Research Grant for Women.

Her publication titled, Biting the Clouds: The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897, was launched on 4 November and is published by the University of Queensland Press (UQP).

Foley completed her PhD with Griffith University in 2017. The thesis topic examined Queensland's legislation, The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897. Her new work on this subject was received with significant interest and in 2021 she will hold a major retrospective exhibition at QUT Art Museum.

Fiona Foley is a founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Co-operative. She exhibits regularly in Australia and internationally. Her recent solo exhibitions were held at Andrew Baker Art Dealer, Brisbane 2017, Ballarat International Foto Biennale 2019 and then at the National Art School, Sydney, 2020.