Anita Heiss

Anita Marianne Heiss (born 1968) is an Aboriginal Australian author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator. She is an advocate for Indigenous Australian literature and literacy, through her writing for adults and children and her membership of boards and committees.

Early life and education Heiss was born in Sydney in 1968, and is a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales. Her mother, Elsie Williams, was born at Erambie Mission, Cowra in Wiradjuri country, while her father, Josef Heiss, was born in St Michael in the Lungau, Salzburg, Austria. She gained her PhD in Communication and Media at the University of Western Sydney in 2000, becoming the first Aboriginal student at the university to achieve this, which she considers her proudest achievement. While working on her doctorate, Heiss ran writing workshops in regional New South Wales, and also travelled to Canada and New Zealand to do research there, giving several guest lectures while abroad. Her work spans non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women's fiction, poetry, social commentary and travel articles.

After attaining her doctorate, Heiss taught an Introduction to Indigenous Australia course at the University of Western Sydney, but became disillusioned with academia and resigned her position after a year or two, although retaining her unpaid role as an adjunct associate professor at the Badanami Centre for Indigenous Education at the university, Sydney, a part-time position, at the same time working from home on her writing. ) at the University of Technology, Sydney, from 2012 to at least 2014.

Present Appointed in 2021, Heiss was Professor of Communications at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland but resigned in May 2026 following the university's decision to pulp Bila by Jazz Money.

Other roles and activities In 1993, Heiss, along with writers Jared Thomas and Kerry Reed-Gilbert (the latter also a good friend

From 1998 until 2004, and again from 2007, she was on the management committee of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA).

In 2011 Heiss was a board member for the National Aboriginal Sporting Chance Academy, and an ambassador for Indigenous Literacy Day and for the Books in Homes program. a social enterprise in Sydney. In 2015 Heiss became an ambassador for the Worawa Aboriginal College.

Heiss was appointed to the State Library of Queensland board in 2017. she is not on the board, but a member of the Indigenous Advisory Group, an independent advisory group to the Library Board.

Heiss is Ambassador of the GO Foundation (founded by Adam Goodes, Michael O'Loughlin and James Gallichan); and the Sydney Swans Australian rules football club.

In 2023, Heiss launched Bundyi, a First Nations imprint with Simon & Schuster. The imprint, named after a Wiradjuri word meaning “to share with me”, focuses on publishing works by First Nations authors, with titles written, edited and designed by First Nations creatives. In her role as Publisher-at-Large, Heiss commissions both fiction and non-fiction titles.

Awards, fellowships and grants 1994/1996/2011 – Writer's Grants from the Australia Council for the Arts June 1997 – ANZAC Fellowship (NZ Department of External Affairs) to New Zealand to meet Māori authors and publishers 2002 – Winner: NSW Premier's History Award (Audio Visual) for the website Barani: The Aboriginal History of the City of Sydney 2002 – Shortlist: NSW Premier's History Award (Young People's History) for Who Am I? The diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937 2004 – NSW Indigenous Arts Fellowship 2004 – Nominee: Deadly Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Literature 2007 – Winner: Deadly Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Literature for Not Meeting Mr Right. 2008 – Winner: Deadly Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Literature, with Peter Minter, for the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature 2010 – Winner: Deadly Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Literature for Manhattan Dreaming 2011 – Winner: Deadly Award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Literature for Paris Dreaming 2012 – Finalist: Human Rights Awards, Media, for Am I Black Enough for You? 2012 – Winner: Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing for Am I Black Enough for You? 2022 – Winner: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Indigenous Writers' Prize for Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray 2022 – Member of the Order of Australia

Selected works Non-fiction Am I Black Enough For You? (Random House, 2012) Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature edited Anita Heiss and Peter Minter (Allen & Unwin Sydney 2008) Dhuuluu-yala, To Talk Straight: Publishing indigenous literature (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2003)

Novels Dirrayawadha: Rise Up, (2024), Simon & Schuster Australia, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray: River of Dreams, (2021), Simon & Schuster Australia, Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms, (2016), Simon & Schuster Australia, Tiddas (Simon & Schuster, Australia 2014) Paris Dreaming (Bantam, Australia 2011) Manhattan Dreaming (Bantam, Australia 2010) Avoiding Mr Right (Bantam, Australia 2008) Not Meeting Mr. Right (Bantam, Australia 2007)

Children's literature Who am I? The diary of Mary Talence, Sydney 1937 (Scholastic, Australia 2001) Yirra and her deadly dog, Demon (ABC Books, 2007) Demon Guards the School Yard (OUP / Laguna Bay, Australia 2011) My Australian Story: Our Race for Reconciliation (Scholastic, Australia 2017) Koori Princess (Magabala Books 2022)

Poetry Token Koori (Curringa Communications, 1998) I'm Not Racist, But ... (Salt, 2007)

Humour Sacred cows (Magabala, 1996)

As editor Growing up Wiradjuri (Magabala Books, 2022) Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia (Black Inc, 2018) Life in Gadigal Country (Gadigal Information Service, 2002) Stories without End (Halstead Press, Australia, 2002)