Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature (edited by Anita Heiss and Peter Minter, general editor Nicholas Jose, A&U, $39.95, ISBN 9781741754984, May) *****

This is an essential reference work for anyone interested in Australian literature and Aboriginal culture. It is an outstanding collection which is a history of Aboriginal writing in English, a cultural record and a reflection on Aboriginal contact with White Australia. As Mick Dodson mentions in his foreword, this volume contains ‘many works that afford the reader a treasured insight into the Indigenous cultural world of Australia.’ Almost two-thirds of pre-contact Aboriginal languages were lost within a few generations. The use of English became part of the Aboriginal struggle to survive colonisation. The writing ranges from political documents of the 19th and early 20th centuries, to contemporary fiction, poetry, scripts, song lyrics and prose asserting independent voices and points of view. Arranged in chronological order, each author’s contribution is accompanied by an informative short biography. Authors range from Bennelong, whose 1796 letter is the first known text in English by an Aboriginal author, to David Unaipon, Oodgeroo Noonuccal and a wealth of contemporary authors including Archie Roach, Patrick Dodson and Alexis Wright. This book will be an important addition to any store’s literature or reference section. It will make a great gift and should become a core backlist title.

Chris Harrington is co-owner of Books in Print in Melbourne

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker