Festschrift: A Celebration of Alexis Wright

Alexis Wright is one of the most important writers of her generation. Her ambitious, epic and uncompromising works have been credited with putting Aboriginal literature on the world map. Wright’s books have been translated into more than five languages and inspired significant levels of critical dialogue, as befits a world literary author. She has won every major literary prize in Australia and received numerous accolades from overseas. In 2021, her novel Carpentaria (2006) was placed on the French agrégation syllabus, a national civil exam for English teachers. The last Australian novel to receive such recognition was Patrick White’s Voss (1957).

This Festschrift brings together authors, scholars and critics to reflect on the diversity of form and sheer prowess of Alexis Wright’s work over a long and distinguished career. The colloquium of papers will tease out the complex, multilayered ways in which Wright’s literature operates, and place her work within the broader context of an Indigenous politics. It will also examine the importance of transnational exchange in Wright’s development as a highly experimental and fearless writer. Above all, this Festschrift celebrates a remarkable voice unparalleled in Australian literature.

Presented by the English and Theatre Studies Program.

Participants

- André Dao, award-winning novelist and Research Fellow at the Melbourne Law School

- Mary Graham, Kombumerri person and Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Political Science & International Studies, The University of Queensland

- Tony Hughes-d'Aeth, Chair of Australian Literature, University of Western Australia

- Ivor Indyk, Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University and founder of the Giramondo book imprint

- Nicholas Jose, Emeritus Professor at the University of Adelaide

- Jacqui Katona, member of Djok clan, activist and lecturer with Moondani Balluk Aboriginal Unit, Victoria University

- Brenda Machosky, Professor of English and Humanities at the University of Hawai’I West O’ahu and editor of Antipodes: A Global Journal of Australia/New Zealand Studies

- Stephen Muecke, Emeritus Professor of Ethnography at the University of New South Wales and Research Professor at the Nulungu Research Institute, University of Notre Dame (Broome Campus)

- Ellen van Neerven, Mununjali author and recipient of numerous awards, including the Prize for Non-Fiction at the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

- Alexis Wright, Waanyi author and Distinguished Professor in Creative Writing, Western Sydney University

Enquiries

Please send your enquiries to Dr Lynda Ng via lynda.ng@unimelb.edu.au.

If you have any support requirements in order to participate fully, please contact us via scc-events@unimelb.edu.au.

Image Credit: Alexis with moon, 2024 by Amos Gebhardt.