Our Island Home

Throughout this week on social media, we've been highlighting three of our books relevant to the aim of NAIDOC Week, which runs from 6th-13th July.

This year's NAIDOC is of special significance as it is the 50th anniversary of the celebration, with the theme of The Next Generation: Strength, Vision, and Legacy. The purpose is to emphasise the importance of empowering young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to carry forward the rich cultural heritage and advocacy of their communities.

As a publishing house, we also celebrate and acknowledge all First Peoples as the original storytellers of this beautiful land we call home and celebrate their enduring knowledge and connections to Country. We honour the wisdom of and pay respect to Elders past, present, and emerging.

NAIDOC Week is a powerful reminder of the enduring strength, vision, and legacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It invites all Australians to participate in a shared journey of recognition, respect, and unity, ensuring that the voices of the next generation are heard and celebrated.

John Maynard’s Golf Dreaming (2025) takes readers on an extraordinary journey into golf through an Aboriginal lens, skillfully blending personal memoir, untold history, and rich cultural insights.

With his signature storytelling flair, John unearths the hidden connections between golf and Aboriginal identity, revealing a narrative of resilience and transformation. This captivating exploration goes beyond the fairways, illuminating the sport's global history, its ties to privilege and colonialism, and the enduring spirit of Indigenous innovation. 'Golf Dreaming' is a celebration of culture, a reimagining of sport, and a powerful story of connection to country and community.

The Second Edition, The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe (2019) also by John Maynard, details the previously untold history of Aboriginal involvement with the ‘world game’. It is always worth reading.

Away from sports history, we have a wonderful, short fiction read that tackles casual and systemic racism. It is set in a country town in Victoria, centred around the U-18 footy team. The End of the Game by Michael Fiddian (2022) is a novel every young adult should read—a great discussion-starter on a vital societal issue.

You can read about the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in sport in many of our other books. These include: