(Please note this post references Aboriginal people who are deceased.)

Thank you everyone who has given me feedback about the Aussies Rule Challenge. It’s very gratifying to see people excited about it and wanting to actively increase their Aussie reading.

A couple of hints first – as with most challenges, this one has been designed so you can use one book to cross off two or more prompts. Feel free to challenge yourself to find a unique book for each prompt if you wish, but it’s not a requirement.

The second hint is to get yourself acquainted with Dr Anita Heiss’s Black Book Challenge lists. You will find them invaluable for the Indiginous prompts on the list. You can find them here, here and here. There are plenty of other lists on the interwebs and in Goodreads which will help you with the prompts. If you get stuck, let me know!

Also the state prompts for 8 and 9 will (obviously) differ for everyone. Rather than talk about those prompts seperately, I’ll include states on each of the books that I mention to make life a bit easier.

Everything I suggest for the prompts are exactly that – suggestions! I am very keen to see your lists and to hear any suggestions you may have.

Onwards!

1. A biography about or a memoir by an Aboriginal Australian:

• Charles Perkins – A Bastard Like Me (NT/NSW)
• Bill Dodd – Broken Dreams (Qld)
• Anita Heiss – Am I Black Enough for You? (NSW)
• Rita and Jackie Huggins – Aunty Rita (Qld)
• Ruby Langford Ginibi – Don’t Take Your Love to Town (NSW)
• Stan Grant – The Tears of Strangers (NSW)
• Peter Read – Charles Perkins: A Biography (NT/NSW)
• Sally Morgan – My Place (WA)
• Kathleen Cochrane – Oodgeroo (Qld)
• Monty Walgar – Jinangga (WA)

2. An Aussie classic by a woman:

• Miles Franklin – My Brilliant Career (NSW)
• Henry Handel Richarson – The Getting of Wisdom (Vic)
• Colleen McCulloch – The Thorn Birds (NSW)
• Joan Lindsay – Picnic at Hanging Rock (Vic)
• Germaine Greer – The Female Eunuch (Vic)
• Ruth Park – The Harp in the South (NSW)
• Ethel Turner – Seven Little Australians (NSW)
• Melina Marchetta – Looking for Alibrandi (NSW)
• Christina Stead – The Man Who Loved Women (NSW)
• Jeanie Gunn – We of the Never Never (NT)
• Helen Garner – Monkey Grip (Vic)
• Kate Grenville – The Seret River (NSW)
• Jessica Anderson – Tirra Lirra by the River (NSW)
• Thea Astley – Coda (NSW)

What do you think of these? Are there any you haven’t heard of or don’t agree with?