UQP to publish Larissa Behrendt's third novel
UQP is delighted to announce that in 2021 we will publish the third novel by Indigenous academic, broadcaster and award-winning author Larissa Behrendt, After Story.
The author of two previous novels: Home, winner of the 2002 David Unaipon Award and Legacy, winner of the 2010 Victoria Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing, Larissa’s new novel After Story celebrates the extraordinary power of words and the quiet spaces in between.
When Indigenous lawyer Jasmine decides to take her mother Della on a tour of England’s most revered literary sites, Jasmine hopes it will bring them closer together and help them reconcile the past.
Twenty-five years earlier, the disappearance of Jasmine’s older sister devastated their tight-knit community. This tragedy returns to haunt Jasmine and Della when another child mysteriously goes missing on Hampstead Heath. As Jasmine immerses herself in the world of her literary idols – Jane Austen, the Brontë sisters and Virginia Woolf – Della is inspired to rediscover the wisdom of her own culture. But sometimes the stories that we are not told become too great to bear.
Ambitious and engrossing, After Story is truly a novel for our times.
UQP Publishing Director Madonna Duffy says: ‘I first met Larissa Behrendt after she won the David Unaipon Award and I’ve had the privilege of working with her on her first two novels and her non-fiction book Finding Eliza. After Story is a like no other novel I’ve read in the way it considers the Western literary canon beside Indigenous storytelling.’
Larissa Behrendt says: ‘This story feels like a deep celebration of my love of literature and the importance of story in my culture, a heritage that has defined me. It cuts through my personal relationships and the issues that have challenged me as I’ve worked with victims of crime.’
After Story will be published in July 2021.
About Larissa Behrendt
Larissa Behrendt is Professor of Indigenous Research and Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at the University of Technology, Sydney. Larissa has published numerous textbooks on Indigenous legal issues and is the author of two previous novels: Home, which won the 2002 David Unaipon Award and the regional Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book; and Legacy, which won the 2010 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Indigenous Writing. Her most recent work was a non-fiction book, Finding Eliza: Colonial Power and Storytelling.
Larissa is on the board of Sydney Festival and is Chair of the Cathy Freeman Foundation. She is also the host of Speaking Out on ABC Radio. She was awarded the 20019 NAIDOC Person of the Year Award and in 2011 NSW Australian of the Year. Larissa wrote and directed the feature films, After the Apology and Innocence Betrayed and has written and produced several short films. She won the 2018 Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction in a Feature Documentary.
