Literature Non-Fiction Award
Subcategory of Human Rights Awards
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Notes

  • Awarded for a non-fiction work (including social history, social commentary, biography or documentary) published in Australia during the relevant annual period.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 2014

winner y separately published work icon Missing Christopher : A Mother's Story of Tragedy, Grief and Love Jayne Newling , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2014 8097995 2014 single work autobiography

'Christopher was seventeen and had everything to live for. He was smart, charismatic, loving, and deeply loved, and a champion rugby player. Yet he was struggling. Diagnosed a year earlier with depression and severe anxiety, he hid his fears from family and friends. Finally, Christopher chose to stop fighting.

'This is the story of Christopher's shocking death and its tragic aftermath for the family. It is also the story of a mother and father's love, and their determination not to lose another son to the temptation of taking his own life. Honest, raw, and deeply moving, Jayne's account brings to life the visceral experience of grief and the long, painful journey towards finding meaning in life again.

'This is compelling and inspirational reading for anyone affected by the death of a young person.' (Publication summary)

Year: 2012

winner y separately published work icon The People Smuggler : The True Story of Ali Al Jenabi, the 'Oskar Schindler of Asia' Robin De Crespigny , Camberwell : Viking , 2012 Z1863577 2012 single work biography (taught in 1 units)

'At once a non-fiction thriller and a moral maze, this is one man's epic story of trying to find a safe place in the world.

'When Ali Al Jenabi flees Saddam Hussein's torture chambers, he is forced to leave his family behind in Iraq. What follows is an incredible international odyssey through the shadow world of fake passports, crowded camps and illegal border crossings, living every day with excruciating uncertainty about what the next will bring.

'Through betrayal, triumph, misfortune - even romance and heartbreak - Ali is sustained by his fierce love of freedom and family. Continually pushed to the limits of his endurance, eventually he must confront what he has been forced to become.

'With enormous power and insight, The People Smuggler tells a story of daily heroism, bringing to life the forces that drive so many people to put their lives in unscrupulous hands. It is an utterly gripping portrait of a man cut loose from the protections of civilisation, attempting to retain his dignity and humanity while taking whatever path he can out of an impossible position.' (From the publisher's website.)

Year: 2010

winner y separately published work icon It's Still in My Heart, This Is My Country : The Single Noongar Claim History 'It's Still In My Heart, This Is My Country' : The Single Noongar Claim History John T Host , Chris Owen , Crawley : UWA Publishing , 2009 Z1744551 2009 single work non-fiction (taught in 1 units)

'Since white settlement, the history of the traditional owners of the south-west remains largely untold. Existing histories tend to represent the Noongar people as passive victims of colonisers and governments; it is all too easy to assume that theirs is little more than one of attempted assimilation, separation and state intrusion. Noongars are rarely represented as active survivors - as people who retained their traditional ways and country in the face of policies aimed at eliminating all aspects of their heritage.

Originally titled 'Applicants Historical Report' and prepared as expert evidence in the native title case known as the Single Noongar Claim, this book analyses the historiography and associated anthropology of the south-west. Coupled with Noongar oral history, it examines the survival of Noongar tradition, law and custom, proving that many of the most common misconceptions regarding the disappearance of Noongar culture have no basis in fact.' [Source: Publisher's blurb]

Year: 2007

winner y separately published work icon Alone on the Soaks : The Life and Times of Alec Kruger Alec Kruger , Gerard Waterford , Alice Springs : IAD Press , 2007 Z1401048 2007 single work autobiography

'Alec Kruger was stolen as a child from his family and his country. From this early time he knew the cold and harsh reality of institutions and not the caressing love of his mother or the warmth of other close relations. Still young, he was taken again - to the cattle stations of Central Australia where, even as a boy, he was expected to display all the independence and ingenuity of someone much older. In isolation. Alec faced possible death, till the arrival of Old People from country who saved him, taught him and made him culturally strong.

'Alec Kruger spent years droving and roaming throughout the Territory and Queensland, forever seeking his place in the world. He found a sense of belonging and somewhere to call home through having his own family and with the emergence and leadership of groups such as the Central Australian Stolen Generations and Families Aboriginal Corporation in the struggle of recognition, reconciliation and recompense.

'Alone on the Soaks enhances our understanding of the diverse journeys of Australia's stolen generations by offering readers intimate stories told in an original and valuable voice.' Source: Publisher's blurb

Year: 2006

winner y separately published work icon Rob Riley : An Aboriginal Leader's Quest for Justice Quentin Beresford , Canberra : Aboriginal Studies Press , 2006 Z1269165 2006 single work biography (taught in 3 units) 'Explores Riley's political and personal life as a key Aboriginal activist. A member of the Stolen Generation, he was a major contributor to national politics. Riley's success was based on his charismatic personality and advocacy skills. Centre stage in the fight for land rights, he was closely involved in the establishment of ATSIC, Deaths in Custody and the Stolen Generations and the WA Aboriginal Legal Service.' (Publisher blurb)
X