{"title":"Books by Alexis Wright","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781472120571","title":"The Swan Book","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Swan Book \u003c\/i\u003eis set in the future, with Aboriginals still living under the Intervention in the north, in an environment fundamentally altered by climate change. It follows the life of a mute teenager called Oblivia, the victim of gang-rape by petrol-sniffing youths, from the displaced community where she lives in a hulk, in a swamp filled with rusting boats, and thousands of black swans driven from other parts of the country, to her marriage to Warren Finch, the first Aboriginal president of Australia, and her elevation to the position of First Lady, confined to a tower in a flooded and lawless southern city.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Swan Book \u003c\/i\u003ehas all the qualities which made Wright's previous novel, \u003ci\u003eCarpentaria\u003c\/i\u003e, a prize-winning bestseller. It offers an intimate awareness of the realities facing Aboriginal people; the wild energy and humour in her writing finds hope in the bleakest situations; and the remarkable combination of storytelling elements, drawn from myth and legend and fairy tale, has Oblivia Ethylene in the company of amazing characters like Aunty Bella Donna of the Champions, the Harbour Master, Big Red and the Mechanic, a talking monkey called Rigoletto, three genies with doctorates, and throughout, the guiding presence of swans.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43204475846834,"sku":"9781472120571","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781472120571_f1483ee7-dc39-4cc1-a71d-8b3d0ffe02e6.jpg?v=1786020378"},{"product_id":"9781913505929","title":"Praiseworthy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2024 James Tait Black Prize – Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2024 Stella Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the 2023 Queensland Award for Literary Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the 2023 Queensland Premier’s Award for a Work of State Significance, Queensland Literary Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the 2024 Miles Franklin Literary Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the Climate Fiction Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a small Aboriginal town dominated by a haze cloud, which heralds both ecological disaster and a gathering of the ancestors, Cause Man Steel is chasing a mad vision: a national donkey transport scheme that will guarantee his people’s independence forever. He finds, however, as he bundles feral donkeys into his Ford Falcon and dumps them en masse in the cemetery, that not all of Praiseworthy agrees. Outrage ferments at his desecration of traditional land, while Cause’s wife Dance seeks refuge with butterflies and dreams of moving their family to China. Bad feelings reach fever pitch when citizens catch wind of the suicide of Aboriginal Sovereignty, Cause’s eldest son. All are distraught – all, that is, except eight-year-old Tommyhawk Steel, who, with his brother gone, gleefully pursues his dream of becoming white and powerful. Told with the richness of language and scale of imagery for which Alexis Wright has become renowned, \u003cem\u003ePraiseworthy\u003c\/em\u003e is a marvel of explosive sentences, a shock to allegory, an outraged cry against oppression, and a biting satire for the end of days.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I’m awed by the range, experiment and political intelligence of Alexis Wright’s work. She is vital on the subject of land and people.’ Robert Macfarlane, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205875925170,"sku":"9781913505929","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781913505929_60bed53c-dfd3-4dec-97bd-101de137fca8.jpg?v=1786030389"},{"product_id":"9781916751125","title":"Tracker","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Stella Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Magarey Medal for Biography\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Queensland Literary Award\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eLonglisted for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction 2025\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA larger-than-life champion of Aboriginal self-determination, Tracker Tilmouth was whip-smart, irreverent, startling, and deadly serious, famous for rattling the chains of Australian political life wherever he went. One day he asked a novelist-friend for help with his memoirs. Wright agreed, though she knew it would take a whole community to do his life justice. Thousands of interview hours later, the result was \u003cem\u003eTracker\u003c\/em\u003e: a groundbreaking piece of creative oral history, a testament to the power of storytelling in contemporary Aboriginal life, and a living monument to a legendary warrior of conscience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘A magnificent work of collaborative storytelling.’ \u003cem\u003eThe Age\u003c\/em\u003e (Australia)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56309420556661,"sku":"9781916751125","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781916751125_0e303ed7-3fe2-43ab-9211-da84c47a4fd7.jpg?v=1786030699"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-alexis-wright.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}