Some of the myths of the outback are undone as these two writers explore desert places. In Lia Hills’ novel The Crying Place, a young white man goes looking for a friend who has died after returning from working in a remote Aboriginal community. In her memoir Position Doubtful, artist and writer Kim Mahood chronicles 30 years of journeys to Tanami desert country and her encounters with both the locals and the landscape. Chair Cath Kenneally.