Dr Anita Heiss
Dr Anita Heiss AM. DLitt. is a proud member of the Wiradyuri nation of central New South Wales and one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors publishing across genres including non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children’s fiction.
Anita’s children’s literature includes Who Am I? the diary of Mary Talence, Our Race for Reconciliation, Harry’s Secret, Matty’s Comeback, Koori Princess and Kicking Goals with Goodesy and Magic, co-written with Adam Goodes and Micheal O’Loughlin. She also wrote two kid's novels with students from La Perouse Public School - Yirra and Her Deadly Dog Demon and Demon Guards the School Yard.
Anita’s non-fiction works include Am I Black Enough for You?, Dhuuluu-Yala (To Talk Straight) – Publishing Aboriginal Literature, and as editor, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia and The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature which she co-edited with Peter Minter.
Her adult fiction includes Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming, Paris Dreaming and Tiddas. Her novel Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms was shortlisted for the QLD Literary Awards, longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize and was the University of Canberra 2020 Book of the Year. Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray won the 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Prize for Indigenous Writing, was shortlisted for the 2021 HNSA ARA Historical Novel (Adult Category) and the 2022 ABIA Awards, and longlisted for the 2022 Stella Prize.
In 2023, Anita re-released her rom coms, plus her first children’s book Bidhi Galing (Big Rain) illustrated by Samantha Campbell.
As an advocate for Indigenous literacy, Anita has worked in remote communities as a role model and encouraging young Indigenous Australians to write their own stories. On an international level she has performed her own work and lectured on Aboriginal literature across the globe at universities and conferences, consulates and embassies in the USA, Canada, the UK, Tahiti, Fiji, New Caledonia, Spain, Japan, Austria, Germany, China, India and New Zealand. Anita is a Lifetime Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, and a proud Ambassador of Worawa Aboriginal College, the GO Foundation and the Sydney Swans.
Anita’s first play Tiddas, produced by La Boite Theatre had its world premiere at the 2022 Brisbane Festival.
Anita is a Professor of Communications at the University of QLD, and her latest book is Dirrayawadha (Rise Up) about the Bathurst War of 1824.
Anita loves chocolate, running, being a creative disruptor, and living Magandjin /Meanjin/ Brisbane.
