Tony Birch

Tony Birch FAHA (born c.1957) is an Aboriginal Australian author, academic and activist. He regularly appears on ABC local radio and Radio National shows and at writers’ festivals. He was head of the honours programme for creative writing at the University of Melbourne before becoming the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in Melbourne in June 2015.

Tony Birch
Born	c.1957 (age 67–68) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation	Author, academic
Language	English
Nationality	Australian
Education	PhD in Urban cultures and histories
Alma mater	The University of Melbourne
Years active	1989–present
Notable awards	Patrick White Award

In 2017, he became the first Indigenous writer to win the Patrick White Award. His 2019 novel The White Girl won the 2020 Indigenous Writers' Prize in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

Background, early life and education

Birch's maternal great-grandfather was an Afghan who migrated to Australia in 1890, who had to get exemption from the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 to take his wife home to meet the family. He also has Barbadian convict (James "Prince" Moodie, transported to Tasmania for 14 years for "disobedience") and Aboriginal heritage.^[1]

Birch was born around 1957^[1] and has grown up around Fitzroy, a working-class suburb of Melbourne once considered a slum.^[2] After being expelled from school for the second time, he left school aged 15 and became a telegram boy on a bicycle.^[1]

Career

After spending a decade as a firefighter, Birch attended the University of Melbourne as a mature student when he was 30 years old. He was the first Aboriginal student to graduate with a degree in History from the University of Melbourne, and the first to receive an MA in Creative Writing. He taught Aboriginal history for several years before switching to Creative Writing. In 2003 he was awarded the Chancellor's Medal for the best PhD in Arts.^[1] During this period, Birch also worked as the Senior Indigenous Curator for Southeastern Australia at Museum Victoria.

Birch has appeared on ABC radio on shows such as Conversations with Richard Fidler,^[2] Life Matters^[3] and RN Afternoons.^[4][5]

In 2015 he became the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in Melbourne.^[6][1] His work involves academic research, creative writing projects, student mentoring, lecturing and community engagement.^[6]

In 2019 he published The White Girl.^[7][1]

Birch was appointed to the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the University of Melbourne in December 2022.^[8]

Activism

Birch is active in a variety of political and social movements, including climate justice, climate change, refugee-related issues and Indigenous issues. His novels integrate themes affecting Indigenous people, such as colonial oppression, dispossession, the Stolen Generations, and generational violence.^[1] He donates a portion of any prize money to the Indigenous youth organisation dedicated to climate justice, Seed.^[9][10]

Bibliography

Novels

• —— (2011). Blood (1st ed.). University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702239274.
• —— (2015). Ghost River. ISBN 9780702253775.
• —— (2019). The White Girl. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702260384.
• —— (2023). Women & Children. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702266270.

Short story collections

• —— (2006). Shadowboxing. Scribe Publications Pty Limited. ISBN 9781921753909.
• —— (2009). Father's Day. ISBN 9780980517972.
• —— (2014). The Promise: Stories. ISBN 9780702252112.
• —— (2017). Common People. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702259838.
• —— (2021). Dark as Last Night. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702263170.

Poetry

• —— (2016). Broken Teeth. ISBN 9780980517972.
• —— (2021). Whisper Songs. University of Queensland Press. ISBN 9780702263279.

Anthologies

• —— (2018). Anita Heiss (ed.). "Gathering Strength". Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia. Black Inc. ISBN 9781863959810.

Selected book reviews

Year	Review article	Work(s) reviewed
January–February 2021	Birch, Tony (January–February 2021). "Disher country". Australian Book Review. 428: 40.	Disher, Garry (2020). Consolation. Text Publishing.

Awards and honours

Literary

• Shadowboxing, shortlisted Queensland Premier's Literary Awards — Arts Queensland Steele Rudd Award 2006
• Shadowboxing, commended, Kate Challis RAKA Award 2011
• Blood, highly commended FAW Christina Stead Award 2011
• Blood, finalist Melbourne Prize for Literature — Best Writing Award 2012
• Blood, winner Melbourne Prize for Literature — Civic Choice Award 2012
• Blood, shortlisted Miles Franklin Award 2012^[11]
• The Promise: Stories, shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — Steele Rudd Award 2014
• The Promise: Stories, shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing 2014^[12]
• Ghost River, longlisted Miles Franklin Award 2016^[13]
• Ghost River, winner Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing 2017^[14]
• Common People, shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Prize for Indigenous Writing 2019^[15]
• The White Girl, shortlisted, Miles Franklin Award 2020^[16]
• The White Girl, winner, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Indigenous Writers' Prize 2020^[17]
• Dark as Last Night, winner, New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Christina Stead Prize for Fiction 2022^[18]
• Dark as Last Night, shortlisted, Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction 2022^[19]
• Dark as Last Night, winner, Queensland Literary Awards — Steele Rudd Award 2022^[20]
• Women & Children, winner The Age Book of the Year Awards 2024^[21]
• Women & Children, ARA Historical Novel Prize — Adult, shortlisted 2024^[22]

Other honours

• First recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University, Melbourne, June 2015^[6]
• Patrick White Award 2017 (first Indigenous writer to receive the award)^[10]
• Elected a Royal Society of Literature International Writer in 2023^[23]
• Elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2024^[24]