FLAGSTAFF — On April 17th, 2023, Northern Arizona University will host Graham Akhurst, award-winning Aboriginal Australian author. Akhurst is from the Kokomini of Northern Queensland and currently lives on Gadigal Country in Sydney. Akhurst will read from his work and discuss his experiences as a writer representing Indigenous Peoples in fiction.
Akhurst’s international reputation as an author, and his involvement in addressing colonization and indigenous issues make the reading of particular interest to the Northern Arizona Community.
Where: NAU Native American Cultural Center, 810 Knoles Dr, Flagstaff, AZ 86011.
When: April 17, 2023
Meet and greet at 1:00 pm
Reading at 1:30
Free and open to the public. All are welcome!
Akhurst is a Lecturer of Indigenous Australian Studies and Creative Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. His fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction have been published widely in Australia and the US.
His debut YA novel, Borderland, will be released in 2023.
Akhurst’s short story “Staffy” was nominated for the 2022 PEN Dau Award, Best American Short Stories, O. Henry Prize, and Pushcart Prize.
He was a participant in the Australia Council for the Arts Future Leaders Program in 2018. Akhurst was named the first Indigenous recipient of the Fulbright W.G Walker award as the highest-ranked postgraduate Australian applicant. The Fulbright award funded his studies at Hunter College, CUNY, where he was awarded an MFA in Fiction in 2021.
This event is sponsored by the Northern Arizona University’s Commission for Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Research and Teaching Circle, Department of Applied Indigenous Studies, Department of English, Department of Comparative Cultural Studies, Ethnic Studies, Department of Sociology, Honors College, Center for International Education, Martin Springer Institute, and the Northern Arizona Book Festival.