General News
3 August, 2023
Former local’s book wins NT literary award
Former Maryborough local Shannyn Palmer’s book on the spatial history of a remote pastoral station in central Australia has won this year’s Chief Minister’s Northern Territory History Book Award. Unmaking Angas Downs: Myth and History on...
Former Maryborough local Shannyn Palmer’s book on the spatial history of a remote pastoral station in central Australia has won this year’s Chief Minister’s Northern Territory History Book Award.
Unmaking Angas Downs: Myth and History on a Central Australian Pastoral Station explores the now Indigenous Protected Area from an Indigenous perspective of place, revealing insights into the areas’ social, cultural and economic history.
The book records the oral histories of the Anangu people who travelled to and lived at the pastoralstation — established in the late 1920s at Walara, Central Australia — providing a rare historical account by First Nations voices compared to the records commonly kept by white pastoralists.
Dr Palmer’s own history started in Maryborough where she was born and raised, before heading to Melbourne to do a media degree, followed by a stint living overseas and then a return to Australia to study history, eventually gaining her PhD.
She said she was proud to receive the award, which also acknowledged the value of First Nations voices.
“The book was a 10-year process so it’s been a big chunk of my life and it’s lovely to have my work recognised in that way,” she said.
“It’s really the product of a collaboration with Anangu man Tjuki Tjukanku Pumpjack and Sandra Armstrong, who both moved to Angas Downs with their families.
“They have both passed since the book was published but I’m still in touch with their grandchildren and they were so excited by the award which is theirs as well.
“The sense of ownership the community has taken from this book has been amazing to see and they are so proud that those stories have been recognised with this award.”
Moving to Alice Springs and travelling to Angas Downs to research and write the book, Dr Palmer said the experience of moving back to a small community had synergies with her youth in Maryborough.
“I was living in Melbourne for 10 years before moving to Alice Springs, it was a really powerful reminder that I do love being a part of the community and living in a smaller place,” she said.
“I definitely spent time in Alice Springs reflecting on my experience growing up in Maryborough and I consider myself really lucky to have spent my childhood in the country.”
Judges described Dr Palmer’s book, Unmaking Angas Downs: Myth and History on a Central Australian Pastoral Station, as an “absorbing exploration of the dual history of Angas Downs, providing a brilliant analysis of the duality of Aboriginal history-making in terms of place, and non-Aboriginal in terms of time”.
The book’s ties to Maryborough don’t just come through its author — it was also printed by the local McPherson’s Printing Group, with Dr Palmer confirming it won’t be the last book she writes.
“I knew when I wrote this book that I wanted to write books again, it’s one of the most incredible experiences I’ve had in my life,” she said.
“I’ve just started opening up to ideas for future projects and while there’s nothing project-wise in terms of a book at this stage, I’m sure there are more books I’ll write.”
Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Natasha Fyles congratulated Dr Palmer on the award.
“The Northern Territory has a plethora of rich and unique stories that deserve to be told, and each year the Chief Minister's History Book Award unearths more gems from our past,” she said.
“This award recognises the work of those who document our history, breathing life into the bygone times that continue to shape our present.”