Aboriginal Australian
Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
author, academic and activist. He regularly appears on
ABC local radio
ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...
and
Radio National
Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2.
History
1937: Predecessors an ...
shows and at writers’ festivals. He was head of the honours programme for creative writing at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
before becoming the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
in June 2015.
In 2017 he became the first Indigenous writer to win the
Patrick White Award
The Patrick White Award is an annual literary prize established by Patrick White. White used his 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature award to establish a trust for this prize.
The $25,000 cash award is given to a writer who has been highly creative o ...
.
Early life and education
Birch was born around 1957 and has grown up around
Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
**FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...
, a working-class suburb of Melbourne considered a slum. After being expelled from school for the second time, he left school aged 15 and became a telegram boy on a bicycle.
Career
After spending a decade as a
firefighter
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
, Birch attended Melbourne university as a
mature student
An adult learner or, more commonly, a mature student, is a person who is older and is involved in forms of learning. Adult learners fall in a specific criterion of being experienced, and do not always have a high school diploma. Many of the adult ...
when he was 30 years old. In 2003 he was awarded the Chancellor's Medal for the best PhD in Arts.
Birch has appeared on ABC radio on shows such as '' Conversations with Richard Fidler'', ''
Life Matters
''Life Matters'' is a radio program that has been broadcast on Radio National by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1992. The first presenter was Geraldine Doogue, and Hilary Harper and Michael MacKenzie present the program.
Histor ...
'' and RN Afternoons.
He became the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in Melbourne in June 2015 and is still a
research fellow
A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...
there. His work involves academic research, creative writing projects, student mentoring, lecturing and community engagement.
Birch was appointed Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne in December 2022.
Activism
Birch is politically active in the
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
and
native title
Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...
movements. In his novels, he has incorporated themes affecting Indigenous people, such as colonial oppression, dispossession, the
Stolen Generations
The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
and generational violence, but weaves them creatively into the stories. He donates a portion of any prize money to the Indigenous youth organisation dedicated to
climate justice
Climate justice is a concept that addresses the just division, fair sharing, and equitable distribution of the burdens of climate change and its mitigation and responsibilities to deal with climate change. "Justice", "fairness", and "equity" ar ...
,
Seed
A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, including the gymnosperm and angiospe ...
.
Bibliography
Novels
*
* ''Ghost River'' (2015)
* ''Shadowboxing'' (Scribe, 2006) , reissued by Scribe Publications in 2010,
* ''The White Girl'' (University of Queensland Press, 2019)
Short story collections
* ''Father's Day'' (Hunter Publishers, 2009)
* ''The Promise: Stories'' (University of Queensland Press, 2014),
* ''Common People'' (University of Queensland Press, 2017)
* ''Dark as Last Night'', (University of Queensland Press, 2021)
Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia
''Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia'' is a 2018 biographical anthology compiled and edited by Anita Heiss and published by Black Inc. It includes 52 short written pieces by Aboriginal Australians from many walks of life and discusses issues li ...
'', (
Black Inc
Schwartz Publishing is an Australian publishing house, digital media and news media organisation based in Carlton, Melbourne, Victoria established by Australian property developer Morry Schwartz in the 1980s. Since the late 1990s many of its p ...
, 2018) ISBN 9781863959810
Book reviews
Awards and honours
* ''Shadowboxing'' (2006), shortlisted
Queensland Premier's Literary Awards
The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...
— Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award 2006
* ''Shadowboxing'' (2010 reissue), commended,
Kate Challis RAKA Award
The Kate Challis RAKA Award is an arts award worth , awarded annually by the University of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia to Indigenous Australian creative artists. It is awarded in a five-year cycle, each year in a different area of the arts: ...
2011
* ''Blood'', shortlisted
Miles Franklin Literary Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...
2012
* ''Blood'', finalist Melbourne Prize — Best Writing Award 2012
* ''Blood'', winner Melbourne Prize — Civic Choice Award 2012
* ''Blood'', highly commended The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — FAW Christina Stead Award 2011
* ''The Promise : Stories'', shortlisted
Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing
The Victorian Premier's Prize for Indigenous Writing is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award
The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of cont ...
2014
* ''The Promise : Stories'', shortlisted
Queensland Literary Awards
The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...
— Australian Short Story Collection - Steele Rudd Award 2014
* First recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University, Melbourne, June 2015
* ''Ghost River'', longlisted
Miles Franklin Literary Award
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...
Patrick White Award
The Patrick White Award is an annual literary prize established by Patrick White. White used his 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature award to establish a trust for this prize.
The $25,000 cash award is given to a writer who has been highly creative o ...
2017 (first Indigenous writer to receive the award)
*''Common People'', shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing 2019
*''The White Girl'', winner, Indigenous Writers' Prize, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards 2020
*''The White Girl,'' 2020 shortlisted, Miles Franklin Literary Award
*''Dark as Last Night'', winner, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction,
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...
2022
*''Dark as Last Night,'' winner, University of Southern Queensland Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection,
Queensland Literary Awards
The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...
2022
*''Dark as Last Night,'' shortlisted,
Prime Minister's Literary Award
The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts.