Lies, Damned Lies

Winner of the University Of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award

A deeply personal exploration of Australia's colonisation past, present and future by one of Australia's finest contemporary authors.

This is a difficult piece to write. It cuts closer to the bone than most of what I have written; closer to my bones, through my blood and flesh to the bones of truth and country; there is truth here, not disguised but in the open and that truth hurts.

In Lies, Damned Lies acclaimed author Claire G. Coleman, a proud Noongar woman, takes the reader on a journey through the past, present and future of Australia, lensed through her own experience. Beautifully written, this literary work blends the personal with the political, offering readers an insight into the stark reality of the ongoing trauma of Australia’s violent colonisation.

Colonisation in Australia is not over. Colonisation is a process, not an event – and the after-effects will continue while there are still people to remember it.

PRAISE FOR CLAIRE G. COLEMAN
‘An urgent examination of oneself and one’s country. Written with a booming cadence that demands to be read aloud, again and again.’ – Tara June Winch, Miles Franklin Award winning author of The Yield

‘You may think you’re woke, but Coleman never sleeps.’ – Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, bestselling author of Sand Talk

‘Coleman is unflinching.’ – Sydney Review of Books on Terra Nullius​
‘Coleman stuns with this imaginative, astounding debut about colonisation.’ – Publishers Weekly on Terra Nullius

‘A powerful, sobering piece of writing that makes us face an Australia we try to forget, but should always remember.’ – Adelaide Review on Terra Nullius