Books about #ModernAustralia

As usual, in the lead-up to Invasion Day, I’ve been revisiting books to recommend that provide a better reflection of life in contemporary Australia (by which I mean the last 20 years) than a national(istic) holiday on the worst possible date.

Thanks to the input of friends and online connections, here’s the list of titles we’ve come up with so far. Please feel free to share your own. [Last updated January 2022]

Non-fiction

• Am I Black Enough For You? by Anita Heiss
• Australia Day by Stan Grant
• Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
• Down Under: Travels in a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson (one of the few contemporary non-fiction accounts of Australia, though the writer is a US expat living in England who forgets to visit an entire state)
• Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, edited by Anita Heiss
• Growing Up Disabled in Australia edited by Carly Findlay 
• How to Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Sex and Teenage Confusion by David Burton (recommended by Kate E)
• Lies Damn Lies by Claire G Coleman
• My Friend Fox by Heidi Everett
• No Country Woman by Zoya Patel 
• No Friend but the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani.
• The Family Law by Benjamin Law
• The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke
• Welcome to Country – A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia by Marcia Langton (recommended by StellaGlorie)

Adult Fiction

• A Constant Hum by Alice Bishop
• Australia Day by Melanie Cheng
• Barracuda by Christos Tsiolkas
• Benang by Kim Scott (recommended by Shauna)
• Common People by Tony Birch
• Dirt Music by Tim Winton
• Earthly Delights and the rest of the Corinna Chapman series by Kerry Greenwood
• Legacy by Larissa Behrendt
• Indelible Ink by Fiona Macgregor (recommended by Jacquie)
• Me, Antman & Fleabag by Gaelle Kennedy
• Mullumbimby by Melissa Lucashenko
• Night Games: Sex, Power and Sport by Anna Krien
• Position Doubtful by Kim Mahood (recommended by Harriet)
• Taboo by Kim Scott
• The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser (recommended by Jacquie)
• The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta
• The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (recommended by Brien)
• Tiddas by Anita Heiss
• Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko

YA Fiction

• Becoming Kirallee Lewis by Jane Harrison
• Between Us by Clare Atkins
• Calypso Summer by Jared Thomas
• Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard
• Laurinda by Alice Pung
• Night Swimming by Steph Bowe
• The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
• When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Children’s Books

• Cheeky Dogs: to Lake Nash and Back by Dion Beasley and Johanna Bell
• The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan (recommended by Zoe)
• Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy (recommended by Sue)
• Young Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe

Poetry

• Blakwork by Alison Whittaker
• Contemporary Australian Feminist Poetry edited by Bonnie Cassidy and Jessica L Wilkinson
• Conversations I’ve Never Had by Caitlin Maling (recommended by Harriet)
• Drinking White Wine in the Sun and other songs/poems by Tim Minchin (recommended by Amanda)
• Smoke Encrusted Whispers by Samuel Wagan Watson

Not-so-modern books (set in the 90’s or earlier)

• FICTION: Blood by Tony Birch
• FICTION: Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton
• FICTION: Cloudstreet by Tim Winton
• FICTION: Goodwood by Holly Throsby (recommended by Ayan)
• FICTION: Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
• FICTION: Murray Whelan series by Shane Maloney (recommended by Jacquie)
• FICTION: My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
• FICTION: Rowland Sinclair series by Sulari Gentil (recommended by Jacquie)
• FICTION: The Battlers by Kylie Tennant (recommended by Shauna)
• FICTION: The Light between Oceans by ML Stedman (recommended by Shauna)
• FICTION: The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood (recommended by Harriet)
• FICTION: The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks
• FICTION: True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
• FICTION (or is it?): Monkey Grip by Helen Garner
• FICTION: You Belong Here by Laurie Steed
• NON-FICTION: 1956 the year Australia welcomed the world by Nick Richardson
• NON-FICTION: A Fortunate Life by AB Facey
• NON-FICTION: A Secret Country by John Pilger
• NON-FICTION: Girt and True Girt by David Hunt (recommended by Shauna)
• NON-FICTION: My Place by Sally Morgan
• NON-FICTION: Tracks by Robyn Davidson
• NON-FICTION: Wanamurraganya : the story of Jack McPhee by Sally Morgan
• POETRY: Sometimes Gladness by Bruce Dawe (recommended by Shauna)
• POETRY: The Silo by John Kinsella (recommended by Shauna)

Any others?