Born into This

Born Into This is a collection of short stories by Adam Thompson, a young Tasmanian Aboriginal author. The stories deal with identity, racism and the destruction of heritage, and they approach these universal themes from a distinctive perspective.

They show a world of unique cultural practice and outlook. In one, Indigenous rangers try to instil some pride in wayward urban teens on the harsh islands off the coast of Tasmania. In others, people scraping by on the margins of white society are pushed into complicated and compromised decisions.

Thompson brings humour, pathos and the occasional sly twist to his characters as they face racism, untimely funerals and classroom politics. Hanging over all of it is a growing, uncomfortable awareness, for both white and Aboriginal Australia, of the damage being done to what remains of the natural world, and of its disappearance.