Indigenous author returns to writers’ fest

TORRES Strait Islander union leader turned author Thomas Mayor will make his second appearance at the Bendigo Writers’ Festival this May.

Last year, Mayor spoke about his work campaigning for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which calls for a referendum for a First Nations voice to be included in the Australian Constitution.

Mayor wrote his first book Finding the Heart of The Nation in 2019 about the statement and said some progress has been made on the movement since his last visit to Bendigo.

“The numbers of the Australian people that are saying they’ll vote yes in a referendum in polling we’ve done continues to grow, it’s almost at 60 per cent of people that said they’d vote yes,” he said.

“It says a lot about what my books have contributed to the campaign, but also what people like the people in Bendigo have done. Taking action, spreading the message and helping to build the number of people that would help get a referendum across the line.”

The father of five’s latest book, Dear Son, sees the author briefly shift his focus from the Uluru Statement to fatherhood.

The book is an anthology of letters written by 12 First Nations men, addressed to either their children or fathers.

“I decided to write this book in the form of a letter to my son, but when I was drafting that letter, I realised it would be a greater lesson to my son if I included other perspectives from other fathers and their experiences,” he said.

The letters feature words of love, experiences of racism, lessons of a parent, and calls to end gendered violence.

“There were a lot of tears, not only from writing my own letter but working with these men, some who had never written before,” Mayor said.

Mayor has also written two children’s books, including bestseller Finding Our Heart, focusing again on the Uluru Statement as well Freedom Day, focusing on the 1966 Wave Hill Walk-Off of Gurindji stockmen.

There are three opportunities to catch Mayor at the Bendigo Writers Festival, on Friday, 13 May at 2.15pm at the Bendigo Bank Theatre, then at 7pm at the Ulumbarra Theatre. He will also be at the Bendigo Library on Saturday, 14 May at 11.30am.