The Swan Book
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Alexis Wright |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Darren Gilbert |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | Giramondo Publishing |
Publication date | 2013 |
| Media type | Print (paperback) |
| Pages | 339 pp |
| ISBN | 978-1-922146-83-0 |
| OCLC | 849317121 |
| Preceded by | Carpentaria |
The Swan Book is the third novel by the Indigenous Australian author Alexis Wright. It met with critical acclaim when it was published, and was short-listed for Australia's premier literary prize, the Miles Franklin Award.[1][2]
Plot Introduction[edit]
The Swan Book is set in the future, with Aboriginal people still living under the Intervention in the north, in an environment fundamentally altered by climate change. It follows a girl who is pulled from a tree as a child after having been lost and gang-raped, and how she grows up raised by a European immigrant and seemingly guided by swans. After the death of her guardian, she is betrothed to a boy who grows up to become the first Indigenous President of Australia (Prime Minister has been abandoned in this future), and later marries him, despite retaining a childlike mind even as an adult.
Awards and nominations[edit]
- 2014 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing[3]
- 2014 shortlisted the Stella Prize
- 2014 winner ASAL Awards — ALS Gold Medal
- 2014 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
- 2014 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Christina Stead Prize for Fiction
- 2016 winner Kate Challis RAKA Award
Reviews[edit]
- Gleeson-White, Jane. "Going viral" [1] 2013-08-23. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
- Tierney, James. "The Swan Book" [2] 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
- Webb, Jen. "Living wound: The Swan Book" [3] 2013-09. Retrieved 2015-07-03.
External links[edit]
- Official listing for the novel at the website of Giramondo Publishing.
Footnotes[edit]
- ^ Webb, Jen. "Living wound: The Swan Book". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ Gleeson-White, Jane. "Going viral". Sydney Review of Books. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
- ^ "Lucashenko wins 2014 Vic Prem's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing". Books+Publishing. 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2020-12-09.