Alexis Wright: The Swan Book

When Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria won the Miles Franklin, it was the first time an Aboriginal writer was awarded our most prestigious national literary prize outright. It went on to become a worldwide bestseller.
The New York Times praised the novel’s ‘magisterial yet colloquial voice, which transformed the oral tradition of the country’s indigenous people into a swirling narrative spiked with burlesque humour’.
The Swan Book is set in the future, with Aboriginal people still living under the Intervention in the north, in an environment fundamentally altered by climate change.
Alexis Wright combines energy and humour, myth, legend and fairytale – and finds hope in the bleakest of situations.
Featuring
Featuring

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 ... Read more

Sophie Cunningham is a non-fiction writer and novelist with a passion for trees, walking and broader environmental issues. Sophie’s most recent books are This Devastating Fever (Ultimo Press) and Flipper and Finnegan –The True Story of How Tiny Jumpers Saved Little Penguins (Albert Street Books)... Read more
Watch, Listen, Read

Listen
Disruptive Comedy: Breaking Barriers with Laughter
5 Jun 2023

Listen
Craig Foster: The Republic Question
1 Jun 2023

Read
What's on in June: Resident Organisation Round Up
1 Jun 2023

Read
Reality bites back
30 May 2023

Read
A coming-of-age reading guide
29 May 2023

Listen
Finding the Heart of the Nation: Thomas Mayo in conversation with Catherine Liddle
27 May 2023