VPLAs People’s Choice AwardVote Now

VPLAs People’s Choice AwardVote Now

Black Witness

Title: Black Witness
Author: Amy McQuire
Publisher: University of Queensland Press

Shortlist: Indigenous Writing

From one of this country’s leading Indigenous journalists comes a collection of fierce and powerful essays proving why the media needs to believe Black Witnesses.

Amy McQuire has been writing on Indigenous affairs since she was 17 years old. Over the past two decades, she has reported on most of the key events involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including numerous deaths in custody, the Palm Island uprising, the Bowraville murders and the Northern Territory Intervention. She has also exposed the misrepresentations and violence of the mainstream media’s reports, as well as their omissions and silences altogether in regards to Indigenous matters.

Black Witness showcases how journalism can be used to hold the powerful to account and make the world a more equitable place. This is the essential collection that we need right now – and always have.

Judges’ report

Black Witness makes a significant contribution to the field of journalism in this country. Where the media has consistently failed Indigenous people by overlooking Indigenous voices, Amy McQuire (Darumbal and South Sea Islander) restores undeniable power to the scores of unheard Black Witnesses. In this outstanding collection of essays, McQuire’s journalism shines a light on the colonial violence and carceral logic that pervades the treatment of Indigenous peoples – from incarceration to healthcare and education to politics. This is writing that deals in truth, helping us to understand history and the present so we might envision decolonial and abolitionist futures. 

Extract

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About the Author

Photo by Jacob McQuire

Amy McQuire

VPLA book photography by Sarah Walker

The 2025 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards are proudly supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria.