We publish books that matter — narrative and literary nonfiction on important topics, and the best of local, international, and translated fiction.

We're excited to say that Black and Blue by Veronica Gorrie has been shortlisted for the Douglas Stewart Prize for Nonfiction in the 2022 NSW Premier’s Awards.

Black and Blue is the story of an Aboriginal woman who worked as a police officer and fought for justice both within and beyond the Australian police force.

The judges said:

‘Black and Blue is a work of epic storytelling, a memoir authored by Gunai/Kurnai woman Veronica Gorrie. This is a book that must contend on every page with structural racism and the violent legacies of colonialism, from the account of Gorrie’s childhood to her experiences working in the Queensland police and raising a family as a single mum.  

It’s the memoir of a survivor, a resilient woman. If Black and Blue is a grim indictment of institutional racism, Gorrie’s highly distinctive voice ensures that it is also surprisingly funny and candid.’

With a great gift for storytelling and a wicked sense of humour, Veronica Gorrie frankly and movingly explores the impact of racism on her family and her life, the impact of intergenerational trauma resulting from cultural dispossession, and the inevitable difficulties of making her way in the white- and male-dominated workplace of the police force.

Veronica Gorrie is a Gunai/Kurnai woman who lives and writes in Victoria. Black and Blue is her first book.

Congratulations to Veronica and all the shortlisted authors.