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by | Mar 16, 2018 | Hosta

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Debra Dank is an Australian writer who won an unprecedented four prizes at the 2023 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

Dank is a Gudanji woman who completed a Master of Education[1] and graduated with a PhD in narrative theory and semiotics at Deakin University in 2021.[2]

Dank adapted her award-winning book, We Come With this Place, from work towards her PhD thesis.[3][4] She was encouraged by her supervisor to shape the book without chapters to allow what she described as "nonlinear storying as it exists in my community".[4]

At the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Dank won an unprecedented four awards, the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction, UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing, the Indigenous Writers' prize and capped it off by winning the overall Book of the Year.[5][6] She also won the ALS Gold Medal in 2023.[7]

Dank's book was included on the 2022 Prime Minister's Summer Reading List, compiled by the Grattan Institute.[8] In 2023 it was shortlisted for the Stella Prize.[9] At the Queensland Literary Awards it won the Nonfiction Book Award[10] and was shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Award for a Work of State Significance and the People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award.[11] It was also shortlisted for the Nonfiction Award at the 2023 Prime Minister's Literary Awards.[12]

An extract from We Come With This Place was included in a 2023 NSW Higher School Certificate examination.[13]

As of May 2023, Dank is a lecturer in Indigenous studies at the University of the Sunshine Coast.[3]

Works

  • Ridimbat Langa Ola Biginnini = Reading with Children, parallel text, dual-language book in Kriol and English, Indigenous Literacy Foundation, 2011[14]
  • We Come With This Place, Echo Publishing, 2022[15]

References

  1. ^ "Our graduates – 2015". Deakin University. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Debra Dank for The Stella Shortlist". The Garret. 1 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  3. ^ a b Dow, Steve (22 May 2023). "Debut author Debra Dank breaks records at NSW premier's literary awards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b "We Come With This Place: Debra Dank on her debut and what comes next". Books+Publishing. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  5. ^ Jefferson, Dee (22 May 2023). "One book just won a record four out of 14 prizes at $350,000 NSW literary awards". ABC News. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  6. ^ Knowles, Rachael (23 May 2023). "Debra Dank uses history-making literary win to call out fracking on her Country". NITV. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Dank's 'We Come with This Place' wins ALS Gold Medal". Books+Publishing. 5 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  8. ^ "Announcing Grattan Institute's 2022 Prime Minister's Summer Reading List". Grattan Institute. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  9. ^ Lamond, Julieanne (26 April 2023). "Stella Prize shortlist 2023: your guide to 6 gripping, courageous books". The Conversation. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Winners of the 2023 Queensland Literary Awards announced". Media statements. Queensland Government. 5 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Queensland Literary Awards 2023 shortlists". Books+Publishing. 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2023 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  13. ^ Harris, Christopher (11 October 2023). "HSC students stumped by apricots in first English exam". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
  14. ^ Dank, Debra (2011), Ridimbat langa ola biginnini = Reading with children, Indigenous Literacy Foundation, retrieved 3 June 2023
  15. ^ Dank, Debra (5 July 2022), We come with this place (First published 2022 This ebook edition published 2022 ed.), Echo Publishing (published 2022), ISBN 978-1-76068-740-3
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