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Image courtesy of The University of Qld
Graham Akhurst Graham Akhurst i(7987426 works by)
Gender: Male
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Kokomini
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BiographyHistory

Graham Akhurst is an Aboriginal writer and scholar from the Kokomini of Northern Queensland. He has published creative non-fiction with Mascara Literary Review and Westerly, and poetry for the Australian Book Review, Cordite, Verity La and Off the Coast (Maine America). He was poet of the week for the Australian Book Review in early April 2016, and has been a featured reader at the Queensland Poetry Festival.

Graham has studied, lectured and tutored at The University of Queensland, through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit. He was a participant on the 2015 Aurora Indigenous Scholars International Tour.

Graham also received an Australia Council Grant to complete his debut novel Borderland, published by Hachette in 2019. In 2018, he became the first Indigenous recipient of the Fulbright W. G. Walker scholarship for study in the United States.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2024-2025 shortlisted Adaptable (Queensland Writers Centre)
2019 recipient Australia Council Grants, Awards and Fellowships

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Career Development Grants for Individuals and Groups $25,000.00

2016 recipient Australia Council Grants, Awards and Fellowships Australia Council Literature Board Grants Literature Arts Projects For Individuals and Groups $20,000.00

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Borderland Crawley : UWA Publishing , 2023 26505784 2023 single work novel young adult horror

'Jono, a city-born Indigenous teenager is trying to figure out who he really is. Life in Brisbane hasn't exactly made him feel connected to his Country or community. Luckily, he's got his best friend, Jenny, who has been by his side through their hectic days at St Lucia Private.

'After graduating, Jono and Jenny score gigs at the Aboriginal Performing Arts Centre and an incredible opportunity comes knocking - interning with a documentary crew. Their mission? To promote a big government mining project in the wild western Queensland desert. The catch? The details are sketchy, and the land is rumoured to be sacred. But who cares? Jono is stoked just to be part of something meaningful. Plus, he gets to be the lead presenter!

'Life takes a turn when they land in Gambari, a tiny rural town far from the hustle and bustle of the city. Suddenly, Jono's intuition becomes his best guide. He's haunted by an eerie omen of death, battling suffocating panic attacks, and even experiencing visions of Wudun - a malevolent spirit from the Dreaming. What's the real story behind the gas mining venture? Are the documentary crew hiding something from Jono? And could Wudun be a messenger from the land, fighting back against the invasion?

'Borderland is a heart-pounding horror gothic that follows Jono on an epic quest to find himself in the face of unbelievable challenges. Graham Akhurst, the brilliant mind behind this coming-of-age gem, is a Fulbright scholar from the Kokomini of Northern Queensland. Brace yourself for a fresh, mind-bending tale exploring Indigenous identity, the impact of colonization, and what happens when you take a stand.' (Publication summary)

2024 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards Griffith University Young Adult Book Award
2024 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance
2023 finalist Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Horror Division Novel
2023 finalist Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction Young Adult Division Novel
2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Older Readers
Last amended 26 Jun 2024 14:10:24
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