Alexis Wright receives Magarey Medal for Biography
Professor Alexis Wright has received the Magarey Medal for Biography for Tracker, the collective memoir of Aboriginal leader and visionary Tracker Tilmouth.
The Magarey Medal for Biography is awarded by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature biannually to the female author who has published the work judged to be the best biographical writing on an Australian subject.
"Alexis Wright’s Tracker is a significant achievement, providing a complex historical, social and personal account of a remarkable Australian, and innovating the conventions of biography with Indigenous knowledges and perspectives," said the judges.
"Not only does it provide insight into individual and collective views of a remarkable Arrente man, Tracker also provides a complex appreciation of the challenges, labours, achievements and capacities of Indigenous Australians. It is a clear and worthy winner of the Magarey medal."
The award continues Professor Wright's critically acclaimed success with Tracker, as she received the 2018 Stella Prize.
Professor Alexis Wright is a member of the Waanyi Nation and Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne. Her position as Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature was established with a $5 million endowed gift by Mr John Wylie AM and Mrs Myriam Boisbouvier-Wylie.