Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%
Indigenous Studies
by Jan Wilson
May 1993, no. 150

The Kwinkan by Mudrooroo

Angus and Robertson, $14.95 pb

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.

As part of his quest to gather information about the ‘famous Dr Warson Holmes Jackamara’ – a Detective Inspector of police, a government official, and the holder of a doctorate in criminology – an Aboriginal oral historian interviews an erstwhile Queensland real estate broker and aspiring politician, for whom Jackamara once worked as a ‘minder’. The transcripts of the resulting thirteen monologues comprise the substance of a novella which presents the reader with an object lesson about the dangers inherent in the greed for power – in hubris – and in white Australian’s failure to recognise the strength of the Aboriginal spirit beings. As such, despite what some might see as its overstrained mythicism, this work has a compelling, and uniquely Australian, quality.

 


Continue reading for only $10 per month.
Subscribe and gain full access to Australian Book Review.

Already a subscriber? .
If you need assistance, feel free to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..



The Kwinkan by Mudrooroo

Angus and Robertson, $14.95 pb

ABR receives a commission on items purchased through this link. All ABR reviews are fully independent.


From the New Issue

Advances – October 2025

by Australian Book Review

The Shortest History of Turkey: A candid examination by Benjamin C. Fortna

by Hans-Lukas Kieser

You May Also Like

The Ambulance Chaser by Richard Beasley & The Naked Husband by Mark D'Arbanville

by Tony Smith

Walter by Ashley Sievwright

by Crusader Hillis

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.

Submit comment