'Do you have a heart? her books ask. Is it still beating? Do you want to live? If the answer is yes, she says, then you're with me. There is something exhilarating in the breadth of her church. For a congenital doomscroller with ancestor issues like myself, Wright opens a door to the potential for justice, comity and healing. It's one I walk through with gratitude and relief.'
Winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2007 and 2024 and the Stella Prize in 2018 and 2024, Alexis Wright is the most eminent and influential Indigenous creative writer of recent times. In this eloquent essay, noted critic Geordie Williamson reflects with deep insight on Wright's powerful work.
Geordie Williamson has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. He is publisher of the Picador imprint at Pan Macmillan, a former editor of Island Magazine and Best Australian Essays, and author of The Burning Library, a collection of essays on neglected figures from Australian literature. He lives in Hobart.