ext_12993 ([identity profile] emma-in-oz.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] 50books_poc2009-01-01 07:35 pm

#19 - Wulungarra Stories

This is a collection of stories in Walmajarri and English.

The strongest part of it is definitely the illustrations, which are a striking white on black. I think they must be a set of etchings.

The stories were told in Walmajarri by a series of people, and translated into English by Yangkana Laurel. The series of short stories suffers from a sense of incoherence, I think. Some of the stories are dream time stories, and others are personal stories of the most horrifying sort, describing where massacres occurred and how relatives were slaughtered. Perhaps there is some unifying theme (maybe geographical?) which I do not perceive.

Wulungarra Stories, words and pictures by Yangkana Laurel, Papayi Laurel, Lucy Bell, Elsie Laurel and Stephen Laurel, English version by Yangkana Laurel, 1997