A new work of fiction by award-winning author and journalist Paul Daley is available now.
Set in a remote Aboriginal community in the mid-twentieth century, Jesustown (2022) explores the multi-generational history and consequences of Australian colonial violence.
In 2016, Daley received the National Library’s inaugural Creative Arts Fellowship in Writing. The Creative Arts Fellowship supports writers and artists to develop new work that is informed or inspired by the Library’s collections. Daley’s research at the Library informed the development of an early manuscript that became Jesustown.
Daley’s research at the National Library led him to rare manuscripts like the journal of the HMS Endeavour, the papers of American archaeologist Frank Setzler and the papers of bushman and patrol officer Bill Harney.
Daley has also received two Walkley Awards, a Kennedy Award and a National Press Club Award for his essays and feature writing in The Guardian and Meanjin. He writes a column for The Guardian, Postcolonial, which explores Australian cultural identity and Indigenous history and culture.
Creative Arts Fellowships are supported by the Friends of the National Library and the Eva Kollsman and Ray Matthew Trust.
