'It’s 1965 and Joe Cluny is living in a working-class suburb with his mum, Marion, and sister, Ruby, spending his days trying to avoid trouble with the nuns at the local Catholic primary school. One evening his Aunty Oona appears on the doorstep, distressed and needing somewhere to stay. As his mum and aunty work out what to do, Joe comes to understand the secrets that the women in his family carry, including on their bodies. Yet their pleas for assistance are met with silence and complicity from all sides. Who will help Joe’s family at their time of need?
'Women & Children is a novel about the love and courage between two sisters, and a sudden loss of childhood innocence.' (Publication summary)
'Ranging over Tony Birch’s career, Ruby Lowe’s review explores the distinct tonalities of Birch’s fiction and criticism, attuned as they are to what he calls the ‘quiet moment of triumph’ that is survival in the face of invasion and settlement.' (Introduction)
Tony Birch on Working Class Storytelling in Australia
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2023
27358397
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'Tony Birch is an activist, historian and essayist. In this interview Tony reflects on his most recent novel, Women and Children.
'His works include The White Girl (winner of the 2020 NSW Premier's Award for Indigenous Writing and shortlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Prize), Ghost River (winner of the 2016 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing), and Blood (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award).' (Production summary)
Tony Birch on Working Class Storytelling in Australia
Astrid Edwards
(interviewer),
2023
27358397
2023
single work
podcast
interview
'Tony Birch is an activist, historian and essayist. In this interview Tony reflects on his most recent novel, Women and Children.
'His works include The White Girl (winner of the 2020 NSW Premier's Award for Indigenous Writing and shortlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Prize), Ghost River (winner of the 2016 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing), and Blood (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award).' (Production summary)
