Episode 72: Anita Heiss on her powerful new novel, “Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray” meaning “River of Dreams”

Much-loved writer Anita Heiss’s latest novel Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, meaning “River of Dreams”, tells the story of Wagadhanny, a young Indigenous woman in the mid-eighteenth century, whose life is controlled by the Bradleys, the white family she works for. They force her to leave behind her beloved family in Gundagai and move with them to Wagga Wagga. A rich, powerful story of her struggle to assert herself and of the importance to her and her people of kinship and of respect for and connection to the land. Heiss uses the Wiradjuri language throughout the book and in the book’s title as a reminder to readers that there is a first language in this country – and it is not English.

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