Tony Birch

Tony Birch (born 1957) is an Indigenous Australian author, academic and activist. He regularly appears on ABC local radio and Radio National shows and at writers’ festivals. He was head of the Honours programme for creative writing at the University of Melbourne before becoming the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in Melbourne in June 2015.

In 2017 he became the first Indigenous writer to win the Patrick White Award.

Heritage and early life[]

Birch's maternal great-grandfather was an Afghan, who migrated to Australia in 1890, who had to get exemption from the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 to take his wife home to meet the family. He also has Barbadian convict (James "Prince" Moodie, transported to Tasmania for 14 years for "disobedience") and Indigenous heritage.^[1]

He grew up around Fitzroy, a working-class suburb of Melbourne considered a slum.^[2] After being expelled for the second time, he left school aged 15 and became a telegram boy on a bicycle.^[1]

Career[]

After spending a decade as a firefighter, Birch attended Melbourne university as a mature student when he was 30 years old. In 2003 he was awarded the Chancellor's Medal for the best PhD in Arts.^[1]

Birch has appeared on ABC radio on shows such as Conversations with Richard Fidler,^[2] Life Matters^[3] and RN Afternoons.^[4][5]

He became the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in Melbourne in June 2015^[6] and as of June 2018 is still a research fellow there.^[1] His work involves academic research, creative writing projects, student mentoring, lecturing and community engagement.^[6]

Activism[]

Birch is politically active in the climate change and Indigenous title movements. In his novels, he has incorporated themes affecting Indigenous people, such as colonial oppression, dispossession, the Stolen Generations and generational violence, but weaves them creatively into the stories.^[1] He donates a portion of any prize money to the Indigenous youth organisation dedicated to climate justice, Seed.^[7][8]

Bibliography[]

Novels[]

• Blood (2011) ISBN 978-0-7022-4759-0
• Ghost River (2015) ISBN 9780702253775
• Shadowboxing Scribe Publications Pty Limited, 2006, ISBN 9781921753909; Scribe Publications, 2010, ISBN 9781921640155
• The White Girl University of Queensland Press, (2019)

Short story collections[]

• Father's Day Hunter Publishers, 2009, ISBN 9780980517972
• The Promise : Stories University of Queensland Press, 2014, ISBN 9780702252112
• Common People, 2017
• Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia, Black Inc, 2018, ISBN 9781863959810
• Dark as Last Night, 2021 (forthcoming)

Poetry[]

• Broken Teeth Cordite Books, 2016, ISBN 9780980517972

Awards and honours[]

• Shadowboxing 2006 shortlisted Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Australian Short Story Award
• Shadowboxing 2011 Commended, Kate Challis RAKA Award
• Blood 2012 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
• Blood 2012 finalist Melbourne Prize — Best Writing Award
• Blood 2012 winner Melbourne Prize — Civic Choice Award
• Blood 2011 highly commended The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — FAW Christina Stead Award
• The Promise : Stories 2014 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing^[9]
• The Promise : Stories 2014 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — Australian Short Story Collection - Steele Rudd Award
• Became the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University, Melbourne, June 2015^[6]
• Ghost River 2016 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
• Ghost River 2017 winner Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing^[10]
• Patrick White Award 2017 (the first Indigenous writer to receive the award)^[8]
• Common People 2019 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing^[11]
• The White Girl, 2020 winner, Indigenous Writers' Prize, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards^[12]
• The White Girl, 2020 shortlisted, Miles Franklin Literary Award^[13]

References[]