Dirrayawadha, Anita Heiss
Dirrayawadha, Anita Heiss
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Dirrayawadha
Rise Up

Author: Anita Heiss

Narrator: Tamala Shelton

Unabridged: 8 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/30/2024

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

'Dirrayawadha is full of heart and hope, truth-telling and history – and shimmers with language too' Guardian

'A story from the past given vivid life for new understanding’​ Kate Grenville
_______________________________________________
Bathurst, 1820s

Miinaa was a young girl when the white ghosts first arrived. She remembers the day they raised a piece of cloth and renamed her homeland 'Bathurst'. Now she lives at Cloverdale and works for a white family who have settled there.

The Nugents are kind, but Miinaa misses her miyagan. His brother, Windradyne, is a Wiradyuri leader, and visits when he can, bringing news of unrest across their ngurambang. Miinaa hopes the violence will not come to Cloverdale.

When Irish convict Daniel O'Dwyer arrives at the settlement, Miinaa's life is transformed again. The pair are magnetically drawn to each other and begin meeting at the bila in secret. Dan understands how it feels to be displaced, but they still have a lot to learn about each other. Can their love survive their differences and the turmoil that threatens to destroy everything around them?

From the bestselling author of  Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams)  comes another groundbreaking historical novel about resistance, resilience and love during the frontier wars.

Praise for Dirrayawadha (Rise Up):

‘Dirrayawadha is a story of the courage of the Wiradyuri nation and the love of their Country. Anita Heiss is a remarkable writer.' Tony Birch

‘To read the book is to enter a lost time, a retrieved war, and to learn much, not least Wiradyuri. With dhuluny (truth) and marrumbang (love) of story, Heiss makes something good. And that is something for which modern Australia can be grateful.’ The Age

'Historical in tone, yet absolutely contemporary in scope, Dirrayawadha is a beautiful triumph.' Mirandi Riwoe

'Dirrayawadha is a beautifully written and masterful telling of a pivotal point in our history.' Nicole Alexander

About Anita Heiss

Dr Anita Heiss is an internationally published, award-winning author of 23 books; non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction and children’s novels. She is a proud member of the Wiradyuri Nation of central New South Wales, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and the GO Foundation, and Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. Anita is also the Publisher at Large of Bundyi, an imprint of Simon & Schuster cultivating First Nations talent, and a board member of the National Justice Project and Circa Contemporary Circus. As an artist in residence at La Boite Theatre, she adapted her novel Tiddas for the stage. It premiered at the 2022 Brisbane Festival and was produced by Belvoir St for the Sydney Festival in 2024. Her novel, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, about the Great Flood of Gundagai, won the 2022 NSW Premier’s Indigenous Writers' Prize and was shortlisted for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize and the 2022 ABIA Awards. Anita’s first children’s picture book is Bidhi Galing (Big Rain), also about the Great Flood of Gundagai. Anita enjoys running, eating chocolate and being a creative disruptor.

Reviews

Goodreads review by EmG on April 12, 2025

Engaging and accessible blend of facts and memorable storytelling by Anita Heiss. Dirrayawadha (Rise Up) explores the tension between ‘white ghosts’ (settlers/colonisers) and First Nations people (particularly of Wiradyuri country in the Bathurst area), with an incredible story incorporating love, f......more

Goodreads review by Ali on September 14, 2024

Heiss is an accomplished storyteller, and this is engaging historical fiction about the Bathurst Wars: a topic which is only just beginning to be discussed in Australia. Heiss brings us into the significance of the events through the eyes of Miinaa, whose brother Windradyne is leader of the Wiradyur......more

Goodreads review by Ellen on September 15, 2024

A story of family, invasion and culture. Important use of Wiradjuri language. Gripping reading.......more

Goodreads review by Anna on February 13, 2025

What an important novel. So well explained and so well done. I love and so appreciate I’ve gotten to learn about the Bathurst War through a story. Loved all the insights; the Irish empathy for self determination, what it means to be good, how important country is…I so recommend this for absolutely e......more

Quotes

‘Dirrayawadha shines a fresh light on one of the most extraordinary people in this continent's past, woven together with a deeply personal story of loss and love. Heiss's wonderful writing, as ever, takes us to the heart of the historical truths which still reverberate today, and movingly chronicles their human cost. Dirrayawadha should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand our colonial past, and especially for those of us who live on unceded land.’

'Anita Heiss rescues the memory of a nation with the intensity of her voice. Dirrayawadha is a story of love, of survivors. You start reading and you lose your breath. There is no one like Anita to captivate you from the first line. In Dirrayawadha love prevails in the midst of the most terrible war. A novel about Australia for the world. The great dichotomy of this novel is the arriving one's yearning for autonomy and the native's yearning for sovereignty.'

‘Dirrayawadha successfully imparts historical truths within an accessible mass-market format while retaining many words in the Wiradyuri language. This novel will appeal to fans of conventional historical fiction about politically marginalised people along the lines of works by Shankari Chandran and Kate Grenville. It starts gently, yet by the end, you will feel the full force of the truths of Australia’s colonial history.’ 

‘A story from the past given vivid life for new understanding.’

'Anita Heiss’s Dirrayawadha is a tender yet clear-eyed portrayal of love, justice and longing; a riveting novel that highlights the personal and historical consequences of Australia’s violent past. Historical in tone, yet absolutely contemporary in scope, Dirrayawadha is a beautiful triumph. The heart wrenching story of Miinaa, Dan and Windradyne will stay with me forever.'

'In illuminating the devastation of war and the vast upheaval and destruction of the Wiradyuri people, Dirrayawadha is a significant contribution to ongoing truth-telling in this country. If anyone ever doubted the existence of internal war in Australia, this is the book to read, and to consider all that’s been lost and what could yet be learned. Dirrayawadha is a beautifully written and masterful telling of a pivotal point in our history.' 

'Heiss is at the height of her powers in Dirrayawadha as she reckons with a time and a truth many have chosen to forget or deny; that of the brutal Frontier Wars that occurred on our soil. Told with heart and courage, Dirrayawadha is an epic tale of resistance, love, belonging and perseverance that returns presence and language to disregarded or silenced historical figures. By fearlessly confronting the impacts of this country’s violent past, Dirrayawadha is a commanding act of truth-telling and Heiss is to be applauded for having the courage to deliver it to us.'

‘To read the book is to enter a lost time, a retrieved war, and to learn much, not least Wiradyuri. With dhuluny (truth) and marrumbang (love) of story, Heiss makes something good. And that is something for which modern Australia can be grateful.’ 

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