Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray - River of Dreams by Dr Anita Heiss
About Dr Anita Heiss
Dr Anita Heiss is an award-winning author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction, children’s novels and blogs. She is a proud member of the Wiradjuri Nation of central New South Wales, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, the GO Foundation and Worawa Aboriginal College. Anita is a board member of University of Queensland Press and Circa Contemporary Circus, and is a Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. As an artist in residence at La Boite Theatre in 2020, Anita began adapting her novel Tiddas (S&S, 2014) for the stage. Her novel Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms (S&S, 2016) set in Cowra during World War II, was the 2020 University of Canberra Book of the Year. Anita enjoys eating chocolate, running and being a ‘creative disruptor’.
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A Quote from Dr Anita Heiss
"One of the roles of the HNSA is to make some noise about historical fiction, and the shortlisting of Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray in the ARA Historical Novel Prize for 2021 helps make some noise about the heroes and lives of Wiradyuri peoples in our shared history, and that’s something I want to celebrate. Thank you."
About Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray - River of Dreams
The powerful Murrumbidgee River surges through town leaving death and destruction in its wake. It is a stark reminder that while the river can give life, it can just as easily take it away.Wagadhaany is one of the lucky ones. She survives. But is her life now better than the fate she escaped? Forced to move away from her miyagan, she walks through each day with no trace of dance in her step, her broken heart forever calling her back home to Gundagai. When she meets Wiradyuri stockman Yindyamarra, Wagadhaany’s heart slowly begins to heal. But still, she dreams of a better life, away from the degradation of being owned. She longs to set out along the river of her ancestors, in search of lost family and country. Can she find the courage to defy the White man’s law? And if she does, will it bring hope … or heartache?
Quotes from the Judging Panel
“Dispossession, love and language centre this story of a young Wiradjuri woman, indentured to a white household, and mourning the separation from her family. The calm, insightful narrative softens the tragic currents that can change life in an instant as Heiss explores Indigenous-European tensions and the devastating impact of colonial law through the difficult friendship that develops between Wagadhaany and the Quaker wife of her employer. The deft handling of this relationship underscores the many abuses of racism and colonialism.”
“Displacement and the gradual loss of identity, where even language is stolen is beautifully weighted against Wagadhaany’s love for the stockman, Yindyamarra, making us question what it is to be a moral being.”
“Through language and a palpable love for her country and people, Anita Heiss gives voice to those silenced and takes back what was lost to the white narratives of colonisation.”
