UQP acquires Wyld’s third novel

University of Queensland Press (UQP) has acquired world rights to KA Ren Wyld’s new novel, Whichway Shimmering Dust.

This multi-generational novel follows an Aboriginal girl and a sentient willy-willy who helps forcibly removed Aboriginal children to return home. It tells the story of a family displaced for decades by colonial violence and the efforts of its key protagonists, Pearl and Wil, to reclaim their identity, culture, heritage and Country.

“Whichway Shimmering Dust is a work of truth-telling literary fiction that infuses factual history with speculative justice for members of the Stolen Generations,” said the publisher.

Wyld (pronouns: they/them), a writer of Martu descent, is the author of two novels and a children’s nonfiction book, with a publication history including short stories, poetry, narrative nonfiction, literature and art reviews, opinion pieces and more. Wyld has received the inaugural 2024 SA First Nations Literary Fellowship and the Dorothy Hewett Award for an unpublished manuscript.

Wyld said, “Being published by UQP was a goal I’d set myself a few years ago […] My motivation for writing Whichway Shimmering Dust was to honour the Stolen Generations and raise awareness of the 1997 Bringing Them Home report’s unfinished business, so I’m grateful that UQP recognised the significance of this novel.”

UQP director Madonna Duffy said, “Whichway Shimmering Dust pays homage to the incredible First Nations writers who have come before; writers such as Alexis Wright, Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington) and Melissa Lucashenko, but Ren Wyld has created something distinctive, powerful and magical with this special novel.”

UQP has scheduled Whichway Shimmering Dust for March 2027.

Category: News Rights and acquisitions