A new book combines my interests in Indigenous culture, Australian history and language. Everywhen: Australia and the Language of Deep History is edited by Ann McGrath, Jakelin Troy and Laura Rademaker and published by University of Nebraska Press, 2023.

It is difficult to describe the complex focus of the book and the book title is not necessarily going to be clear to potential readers. The publisher blurb says “Everywhen is a groundbreaking collection about diverse ways of conceiving, knowing, and narrating time and deep history. Looking beyond the linear documentary past of Western or academic history, this collection asks how knowledge systems of Australia’s Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders can broaden our understandings of the past and of historical practice.”

I like this comment about Indigenous languages: “language both as a means of knowing and transmitting the past across generations and as source material for historical investigation”.

This is a diverse collection of chapters, which will attract different interest depending on readers’ perspectives. The editors themselves note in their lengthy and excellent introduction that “the contributors do not all agree with each other”, and “that juxtaposing Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives… will inevitably introduce some sharp contrasts of style”.

I particularly enjoyed Chapter 10 on analysis of 13 different versions of a Wik story of early Indigenous encounters with the Dutch in northern Queensland, and Chapter 12 on the living heritage of the Dharawal Country people in southern Sydney, where the trail of Gymea lilies marks a songline from the forest country to the coast to celebrate the whale. With the notes and bibliography for each chapter, it is not as long (and daunting) as it may first look.

The Everywhen book and my recent experiences documented in my blog Cultural safety in editing continue my interest in learning more about Aboriginal culture and supporting culturally diverse perspectives, both personally and professionally, building on the Diploma in Aboriginal Studies I completed in 2008. The free app on Dharawal Language and Culture by Gujaga Foundation in La Perouse provides information on the language of the Dharawal people of southern Sydney where I live.

See my other blogs on recent books:

Writing on the Job

More than Words: The Making of the Macquarie Dictionary

Look – It’s Your Book

To work with an accredited editor who strives for clear communication, please contact me at rhdaniels@bigpond.com