''Islanders must do everything together. We painted ngatu together. We crossed the ocean together. We settled on isles together. We took up Christianity together. We entered into new citizenships together. We became wage workers together. We lived with generations upon generations stacked in fibro houses together. We became half-White together. We got nits together. We sooked together. We stayed poor together. Together. Together. Together.
''Meadow Reed used to get confused when explaining that she had grandparents from Australia, Tonga and Great Britain. She'd say she was full-White and full-Tongan, thinking that so many halves made separate wholes. Despite the Anglo-Saxon genetics that gave Meadow a narrow nose and light-brown skin, everybody who raised her was Tongan. Everybody who loved her was Tongan. This was what made her Tongan.
'Growing up in the heat-hummed streets of Mt Druitt in Western Sydney, Meadow will face palangis who think they are better than Fobs, women who fall into other women, what it means to have many mothers, a playful rain and even Pineapple Fanta.
'For this half-White, half-Tongan girl, the world is bigger than the togetherness she has grown up in. Finding her way means pushing against the constraints of tradition, family and self until she becomes whole in her own right. Meadow is going to see that being a dirt poor Islander girl is more beautiful than she can even begin to imagine.
'Dirt Poor Islanders is a potent, mesmerising novel that opens our eyes to the brutal fractures navigated when growing up between two cultures and the importance of understanding all the many pieces of yourself.' (Publication summary)
'Winnie Dunn's debut is the first novel to explore the diffusion of a Tongan-Australian culture.'
Winnie Dunn in Conversation
Evelyn Araluen
(interviewer),
2024
28214508
2024
single work
podcast
interview
'In this episode, a conversation with Winnie Dunn – a Tongan-Australian writer, editor, the General Manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement, and now author of the novel Dirt Poor Islanders.
'Dunn’s book is a potent, mesmerising novel that opens our eyes to the brutal fractures navigated when growing up between two cultures and the importance of understanding all the many pieces of yourself.
'Winnie Dunn was joined in conversation at Readings Carlton by Evelyn Araluen, poet and literary editor. Araluen’s first book, Dropbear, won the 2022 Stella Prize.' (Introduction)
It’s Winnie Dunn’s Turn in the Spotlight
Michael Williams
(interviewer),
2024
28214209
2024
single work
podcast
interview
'Winnie Dunn is used to being behind the scenes. As the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Western Sydney, she has been instrumental in helping other writers find their voice. But now, the spotlight is on her. This week, Michael sits down with Winnie for a conversation about her debut novel, Dirt Poor Islanders. She reflects on the demonising narratives she had to fight and the piece of writing advice that she’d given to others that resonated for her.' (Introduction)
'At just 28, Winnie Dunn has accrued an impressive list of firsts to her name.'
'Winnie Dunn’s first novel, Dirt Poor Islanders, takes as its epigraph a line from Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians (2013): “Remember, every treasure comes with a price.”'
'Winnie Dunn’s first novel, Dirt Poor Islanders, takes as its epigraph a line from Kevin Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians (2013): “Remember, every treasure comes with a price.”'
'Winnie Dunn's debut is the first novel to explore the diffusion of a Tongan-Australian culture.'
'At just 28, Winnie Dunn has accrued an impressive list of firsts to her name.'
It’s Winnie Dunn’s Turn in the Spotlight
Michael Williams
(interviewer),
2024
28214209
2024
single work
podcast
interview
'Winnie Dunn is used to being behind the scenes. As the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Western Sydney, she has been instrumental in helping other writers find their voice. But now, the spotlight is on her. This week, Michael sits down with Winnie for a conversation about her debut novel, Dirt Poor Islanders. She reflects on the demonising narratives she had to fight and the piece of writing advice that she’d given to others that resonated for her.' (Introduction)
Winnie Dunn in Conversation
Evelyn Araluen
(interviewer),
2024
28214508
2024
single work
podcast
interview
'In this episode, a conversation with Winnie Dunn – a Tongan-Australian writer, editor, the General Manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement, and now author of the novel Dirt Poor Islanders.
'Dunn’s book is a potent, mesmerising novel that opens our eyes to the brutal fractures navigated when growing up between two cultures and the importance of understanding all the many pieces of yourself.
'Winnie Dunn was joined in conversation at Readings Carlton by Evelyn Araluen, poet and literary editor. Araluen’s first book, Dropbear, won the 2022 Stella Prize.' (Introduction)
