#NSW Premier’s Award shortlist Billy Griffiths (NF)

 

• Author: Billy Griffiths
  
• Title: Deep Time Dreaming
  
• Published: 2018
• Publisher: Black Inc.
• List of Challenges 2019
• Monthly plan
• @NSW_PLA
• @BlackIncBooks

 

 

Awards:

• 2018 John Mulvaney Book Award ( significant contribution to Australian archaeology)
• Shortlisted, 2018 Queensland Literary Awards
• Shortlisted, 2019 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards  (29 April announcement)
• Longlisted, 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards  (02 May announcement)

 

Quickscan:

1. Deep Time Dreaming is  a history of Australia
2. …told in stones and bones.
3. Griffiths highlights in several anecdotal chapters
4. ….about many illustrative archeologists (male and female)
5. the basic conflict in this discipline:
6. How to view the past?
7. critical deep time perspective vs  the past as a living heritage.
8. This is a complex question of ownership and belonging.
9. Strong point: The book reveals in a conversational tone
10. …easy to read for a novice like me…
11. the slow slow shift  to deep time dreaming.

 

Title:

1. What is Deep Time Dreaming?
2. The term was coined by B. Spencer and F. Gillen (Introduction)
3. It is NOT to dig in search of treasure.
4. It is to seek, understand a place from fragments
5. …that have survived for thousands of years.
6. It is an act of wonder.

 

Conclusion:

1. I decided to read this book and listen to the audio. (11 hr 27 min)
2. Listen to a sample of the book!
3. Strong point: narrator Tom Griffiths is a delight to listen to!
4. At times I was swept away by deep and profound
5. sacredness of the Aboriginal people’s cultural life.
6. Archeologist R.A. Gould published information/images that he promised
7. ….would not be shared in his book Yiwara (1969)
8. The author was on a  Aboriginal ‘hit-list’ for his betrayal.

 

1. At another time I  read about the Franklin River dispute in Tasmania
2. The Franklin  was ‘not just a river‘
3. …it has the epitome of a lost forest.
4. The photo by Peter Dombrovskis
5. …  was the poster image during the
6. explosive ecological and political debacle. (read chapter 9)
7. The photo is impressive.
8. …and takes me halfway across the world in
9. my thoughts.

Morning Mist Rock Island Bend

 

Last thoughts:

1. This book taught me more about Australia
2. …and the rise of Aboriginal awareness by the nation,
3. …it’s dedicated team of archeologists starting in 1950s
4. with John Mulvaney than any other non-fiction I’ve read.
5. I would highly recommend reading and listening to this book.
6. With the help of Wikipedia (biographical info about archeologists)
7. …and Google images this book is a magic carpet to
8. …ancient Australia!
9. I’ve read ALL the non-fictions shortlisted books
10. …with the exception of The Erratics (not available in Netherlands).
11. Deep Time Dreaming is MY CHOICE 
12. as winner of  the non-fiction
13. Douglas Stewart Prize ( NSW Literary Awards 2019)