Tangki Tjuta, Linda Wells, Ciella Williams take out 2024 Chief Minister’s book award
In a Territory of yarn-spinners, some are bound to be better than others – but this year three have been given the Chief Minister’s seal of approval, and $10k. Find out who.
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Yarns about motherhood in the Territory, donkeys in the Red Centre, and the overwhelming odds faced by an Indigenous women living in a tin shed have all being given the seal of approval by the Territory’s head honcho – as well as $10k.
More than 1500km from the Top End capital and with the Chief Minister preoccupied with parliament, shortlist authors gathered in Red Kangaroo Books in Alice Springs on Thursday evening to find out who would take out the 2024 Chief Minister’s Book Award in three categories.
Travelling all the way down from Darwin was Ciella Williams, who took out the book award work for best fiction work for her play Hush, after only being in Alice Springs for about three hours.
“It just feels so incredible. It’s very hard to keep the impostor syndrome at bay, but sitting there with all those other amazing artists and writers and storytellers, I just feel so proud and lucky,” she said.
A culmination of three years of work, her play is available online and is built around a pitch to create stories for women under 30.
“I got thinking about stories for women of that age, I was 28 at the time, and the big thing that I had just been through under 30 was having a baby,” she said.
“So I started reflecting on that experience of early parenthood, of the fears and trepidations I had while I was pregnant, wanting kids, not wanting kids, wanting pregnancies, not wanting pregnancies, and that was where the story came from.”
The non-fiction category went to Alice Springs-based woman Linda Wells for her novel Living in Tin.
Her novel follows the story of The Bungalow in Alice Springs, Topsy Smith’s home where she housed Aboriginal children.
Working with the descendants, her book was built from four years of work to obtain a PHD, she said.
“I wrote that book as a creative artefact, as a creative work of creative history, and I wrote a theoretical document to go with it,” she said.
“It feels really wonderful. It’s a real validation – I’ve written for a long time, and when you write, you write a lot of things, and you get a lot of rejections.
“To get something like this a real validation, particularly on that work, which I put my heart and soul into.”
Taking out the children’s and young adult category were the Tjanpi Desert Weavers with their book Tangki Tjuka.
On hand representing the weavers was Elizabeth Dunn and Imuna Kenta, with Della Pearce in attendance to interpret.
Using hand-woven figures, the desert weavers work tells a story about cheeky donkeys – but ultimately explains how the animals come to be an integral part of their life.
Told in both Pitjantjatjara and English, Ms Dunn and Ms Kenta – with Ms Pearce interpreting – said the book was “big work”.
“It was hard work out bush doing this and the little donkey figures,” they said.
“(It’s the) first time for us winning (the Chief Minister’s book) award.”
Category winners received $10k while shortlisted finalists received $1000.
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Originally published as Tangki Tjuta, Linda Wells, Ciella Williams take out 2024 Chief Minister’s book award
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