Anita Heiss

Anita is a proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but was born in Gadigal country and grew up on Dharawal land near La Perouse. She is one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors publishing across genres including non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction, and children’s novels.

To show her love of our Co-Founders, and to prove that you can marry literature and sport, Anita co-wrote Kicking Goals with Goodesy and Magic. She also wrote two kids’ novels with students from La Perouse Public School - Yirra and her deadly dog Demon and Demon Guards the School Yard.

Anita’s other published works include children’s novels Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937, Our Race for Reconciliaton, Matty’s Comeback and Harry’s Secret. Her non-fiction work includes the text Dhuuluu-Yala (To Talk Straight) – Publishing Aboriginal Literature, and The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature which she co-authored with Peter Minter.

Her adult fiction includes Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming and Paris Dreaming, Tiddas and Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms, which was shortlisted for the QLD Literary Awards and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize.

The epic historical novel Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray (River of Dreams) was released in 2021 and was the first Australian novel to be published without and English title.

In 2004, Anita was listed in The Bulletin magazine’s “Smart 100”. Her memoir Am I Black Enough for You?  was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards and she was a finalist in the 2013 Australian of the Year Awards (Local Hero).

As an advocate for Indigenous literacy, Anita has worked in remote communities as a role model and encouraging young Indigenous Australians to write their own stories. On an international level she has performed her own work and lectured on Aboriginal literature across the globe at universities and conferences, consulates and embassies in the USA, Canada, the UK, Tahiti, Fiji, New Caledonia, Spain, Japan, Austria, Germany, China, and New Zealand.

Anita is a Lifetime Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and a proud Ambassador of Worawa Aboriginal College and the Sydney Swans.

Anita is a Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland, and Board Member of the University of QLD Press, Circa Contemporary Theatre, the National Justice Project and Aboriginal Art Co.  She lives in Brisbane.

Photo by Kate Bryan