Claire G. Coleman (born 1974) is an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia 50,000 to 65,000 year ...

novelist, essayist, and poet from

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. She is known for her 2017 debut novel, ''

Terra Nullius ''Terra nullius'' (, plural ''terrae nullius'') is a Latin expression meaning " nobody's land". Since the nineteenth century it has occasionally been used in international law as a principle to justify claims that territory may be acquired ...

'', which won the

Norma K Hemming Award Norma may refer to: * Norma (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) ** Norma Lizbeth Ramos, a Mexican bullying victim Astronomy *Norma (constellation) * 555 Norma, a minor asteroid *Cygnus Arm or Norma Arm, a spiral ...

, and the non-fiction work ''Lies, Damned Lies'', which won the 2022

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

Non-Fiction Book Award in the

Queensland Literary Awards The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...

Early life

Claire G. Coleman was born in 1974. She is

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

woman of the Wirlomin language group.

Career

The manuscript of Coleman's debut novel, ''

'', resulted in Coleman being awarded the

State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...

's 2016 black&write! Indigenous writing fellowship. After publication, it won the

. She gave the Loris Williams Memorial Lecture at the 2018

Australian Society of Archivists The Australian Society of Archivists is a professional organization of archivists in Australia. The Australian Library Association had an archives section between 1951 and 1973. Significant persons in the starting of the society include Ph ...

conference. Coleman's essay, "After the Grog War", was shortlisted for the 2018

Horne Prize The Horne Prize was an Australian award presented by Aēsop and ''The Saturday Paper'' from 2016 to 2020 for a literary essay of up to 3000 words on Australian life. The prize was valued at $15,000 (Australian) and named in honour of Donald Horn ...

, while another essay, "Hidden in Plain Sight", was shortlisted for the 2019 Horne Prize. Coleman has also written short fiction and poetry.

Awards and shortlisting

* 2017

Aurealis Award for best science fiction novel The Aurealis Awards are presented annually by the Australia-based Chimaera Publications and WASFF to published works in order to "recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy, horror writers". To qualify, a work must have ...

shortlist for ''Terra Nullius'' * 2018 Horne Prize shortlist for "After the Grog War" * 2018

MUD Literary Prize The MUD Literary Prize is an Australian literary award awarded annually at Adelaide Writers' Week since 2018 to a debut literary novel. It is sponsored by a philanthropic organisation, the MUD Literary Club, which was founded in 2012. The orga ...

finalist for ''Terra Nullius'' * 2018 Stella Prize shortlist for ''Terra Nullius'' * 2019

shortlist for "Hidden in Plain Sight" * 2019 Neukom Institute Literary Arts Awards Debut shortlist for ''Terra Nullius'' * 2019

Queensland Poetry Festival Queensland Poetry Festival was the flagship program of Queensland Poetry, one of Australia's premier organisations for all things poetry. It existed to support and promote a poetry culture in Queensland and Australia, embracing the wide possibilit ...

Philip Bacon Ekphrasis Award for "Pelin" * 2020

Peter Porter Poetry Prize The Peter Porter Poetry Prize is an ongoing international literary award run by the Australian Book Review for outstanding poetry. Established by the ''ABR'' in 2005, the Prize is named after the late Australian poet Peter Porter. The Porter Priz ...

shortlist for "That Wadjela Tongue" * 2020

Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize Queensland Poetry Festival was the flagship program of Queensland Poetry, one of Australia's premier organisations for all things poetry. It existed to support and promote a poetry culture in Queensland and Australia, embracing the wide possibilit ...

shortlist * 2022

: University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award for ''Lies, Damned Lies''

Works

Novels

* * *

Short fiction

* * * * *

Poetry

* * * * *

Non-fiction

* *

References

External links

* *
"The Mists Of Down Below" in ''Griffith Review''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleman, Claire G. Living people Noongar people 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian poets Australian women novelists Australian women poets Indigenous Australian writers 21st-century Australian women writers 1974 births