'This unique edition of the Westerly provides a space for Aboriginal stories to be published and heard. There is a great diversity in the stories in this edition, some focus on family relationships, others on Country and some on the trauma of colonisation. A common theme is the subtle and often ironic sense of humour that threads through the collection, offering a sense of hope and resilience. The collection is thought-provoking, insightful, sad, funny, and full of those wonderful foibles that make us all human.' (Source: Editorial)
Only a year or so ago I had been addressing an audience of trees out of frustration at the deafness of Australians to Indigenous issues. Now here I am, collecting and showcasing the powerful words of some of our great Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers and orators. Perhaps the trees put in a good word for me. I like to think so.
