Black Inc. acquires Don Watson book on Dezi Freeman

Black Inc. has acquired world rights to a nonfiction book by Don Watson on the case of Dezi Freeman that will build on the theme of Watson’s December 2025 article in the Monthly.

Freeman, who dominated news headlines in 2025 for the shooting of two police officers and his subsequent disappearance into north-east Victorian bushland, was “an anti-vaxxer, an aggressive, near-sociopathic ‘sovereign citizen’, and a ‘prepper’ who believed the End Times were at hand”, said Black Inc. when announcing the acquisition. Freeman was subsequently found after 7 months on the run, and shot dead by police after a stand-off when officers attempted to apprehend him. “Watson traces the forces that made him, the wreckage he left in his wake, and much more.”

Publisher Chris Feik said the book was “about legends, madness, the bush and a man on the run”, and promised to be a “riveting, perceptive, sad and sardonic account of Freeman and his world”.

Don Watson is the author of numerous books, including Recollections of a Bleeding Heart, American Journeys, The Bush, Watsonia, The Story of Australia and The Passion of Private White, as well as 3 Quarterly Essays on American culture and politics.

Black Inc. plans to publish Watson’s book in early 2027.

Category: Local news Rights and acquisitions