Book Review
Not Quite White in the Head
by Melissa Lucashenko
Just recently, another book which will sit in our ‘Australian Studies’ section was published, and it came with the subheading ‘How an ancient land became a great democracy.’ When the author of that book was elected Prime Minister of said ancient land, in his first year he repealed the carbon price, abolished the renewable energy target, and approved expansion of a coal terminal next to the Great Barrier Reef. So, forgive me if I don’t quite trust him on the ‘great democracy’ front either. However, in Melissa Lucashenko’s words from her new book: ‘It’s time Reader, for a very deep breath: Aborigines invented democracy.’
This is the first time Lucashenko’s nonfiction work – which contains essays like ‘The First Australian Democracy’ – has been brought together in one accessible volume. We are treated to essays about her own writing, a love letter to her literary hero, speeches that have thankfully been preserved, and poignant interviews.
While the works were produced across time and place, they can be read comprehensively together (always a worry with essay collections). There is something for everyone; you needn’t have read her fiction, although learning about the motives behind her famous titles will make you want to. As Lucashenko says, ‘you don’t need to be Indigenous to engage with First Nations mobs … you simply need to be a decent, mindful human who cares about your neighbours and the earth.’ In the essay ‘On Keri Hulme’, Lucashenko says she first discovered her hero’s work at age 22, ‘a very good age to read a powerful and angry novel.’
No matter your age, now is a very good time to read this powerful collection of essays, which contains, yes, anger – but also hope, honesty and bloody good journalism. Sometimes, nonfiction can be daunting, but Lucashenko’s experience in fiction means she writes compelling stories regardless of the genre. She gives voice to numerous people, mostly Indigenous and mostly women, who can tell us the real story of ‘Australia’ and how its great democracy is playing out.
