New book breaks down racial divide

 

Indigenous rights activist and USQ lecturer, Steven Hagan, who is currently on leave from the University while he works as Editor of the National Indigenous Times, is preparing to launch his new book Ngalga Mathematics, a novel aimed at breaking down racial divides while encouraging the love of reading in Indigenous children.

Stephen is presently on leave from USQ and is Editor of the National Indigenous Times. This is the fourth book Stephen has published and is a tale of an Aboriginal girl who is a math's whiz and enters a nationwide girl’s maths competition. The novel is aimed upper primary and lower secondary students and will form part of a new education series Yarning Strong, intended for all Australian students.

'The story, from an Indigenous perspective, has a predictable outcome for the Aboriginal math's whiz but an unexpected finale to the non-Indigenous girl’s journey of cultural enlightenment,” Stephen said.

Growing up in Far Western Queensland, Stephen said he found it hard to relate to the largely Anglo-Saxon fictional characters in story books.

'I don’t recall ever reading children's, or for that matter, young adult fiction books throughout my formal schooling that had an Indigenous character as the principal focus,' he said.

'I titled the book Ngalga Mathematics because Ngalga in my father’s language means talking so together simply the title means talking numbers.'

The series, published by Oxford Press, will offer non-Indigenous children an insight into the lives of contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids, while Indigenous children will enjoy the exciting, contemporary, urban Australia.

'It will also support teachers. Many teachers are aware of their mandatory responsibilities to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives and content into their curriculum, but often feel ill equipped to do so. The series offers teachers a resource that will: stimulate class discussions, and assist in dispelling stereotypical and often negative racial assumptions.'

Stephen said although his children are now well past primary school age, he looks forward to seeing his grandchildren one day reading his book.

'I’m just sorry this set of books weren’t around when I was a kid growing up as I might have had a more positive outlook on life at an earlier age.

'Although I still believe we are far from being equally represented in literature as Indigenous Australians, I do believe that this set of education books for upper primary school goes part way in addressing this anomaly.'

All books in the series were written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, and the project was guided by an Indigenous consultative group, with representatives drawn from around Australia.

Stephen will attend the series launch by Dr Chris Sarra in Sydney on March 16.

Contact Details:

 Media Contact: Connie-Louise Rego, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 2977