Elfie Shiosaki
Homecoming
Magabala Books
$24.99
I’ve heard wonderful things about this debut hybrid work (poetry/prose) from Noongar and Yawuru writer Elfie Shiosaki, who lectures in Indigenous Rights at the University of Western Australia.
Homecoming pieces together fragments of stories about four generations of Noongar women and explores how they navigated the changing landscapes of colonisation, protectionism, and assimilation to hold their families together.
This seminal collection of poetry, prose and historical colonial archives, tells First Nations truths of unending love for children—those that were present, those taken, those hidden and those that ultimately stood in the light.
Homecoming speaks to the intergenerational dialogue about Country, kin and culture. This elegant and extraordinary form of restorative story work amplifies Aboriginal women’s voices, and enables four generations of women to speak for themselves. This sublime debut highlights the tenacity of family as well as First Nation’s agency to resist, survive and renew.
Elfie Shiosaki has restored humanity and power to her family in this beautifully articulated collection and has given voice to those silenced by our brutal past.
Listen to an interview with Elfie Shiosaki on ABC Radio Perth here.
Mel Hall
The Little Boat on Trusting Lane
Fremantle Press
$29.99
Some of my favourite writers (Simone Lazaroo, Rashida Murphy, Laurie Steed) have been talking up this newly released novel from Fremantle Press. Mel Hall has previously published a novella (The Choir of Gravediggers, Ginninderra Press, 2016), and was shortlisted for the Fogarty Literary Award in 2019.
Richard runs his alternative healing centre from an old houseboat in a scrapyard on Trusting Lane. The Little Mother Earth Ship provides spiritual sustenance at regular meetings of the Circle of IEWA. While Richard plies his new-age wisdom, disciples Finn and August help to run the centre. But warning letters from the council are piling up down the side of the fridge and the arrival of a new mystic, Celestiaa Davinaa, is about to rock their world. How many alternative healers can one small boat hold before the enterprise capsizes?
Read a review by Books + Publishing here.
looking up/looking down 
I have (accidentally) bought two copies of Homecoming, so I’ll be using one as a giveaway for Indigenous Literature Week coming up on my blog during NAIDOC Week 4-11 July 2021. I’ll be putting out the advance notice this coming week.
It will be my 10th year of hosting it so I’m hoping for lots of participants this year:)
Wonderful, Lisa! I’ll be looking forward to those posts from you, and this will be one I’ll read during that week.
Thanks, Amanda, that will be great.