Gary Lonesborough – författare

WINNER: 2024 MARION ACT Book of the Year, Books for Older Readers WINNER: 2024 Readings Young Adult PrizeSHORTLISTED: 2024 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature SHORTLISTED: 2024 NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Indigenous Writers' PrizeNOTABLE BOOK: 2024 CBCA Book of the Year, Older ReadersSHORTLISTED: 2024 Prime Minister's Literary Awards, Young Adult Literature The thought comes to me: This is how I die. Dally is going to lose control and crash us into a pole or a house and we will be killed on impact. The justice system characterises Jamie Langton as a 'danger to society', but he's just an Aboriginal kid, trying to find his way through adolescence. Jamie lives in Dalton's Bay with Aunty Dawn and Uncle Bobby. He spends his downtime hanging out with his mates, Dally and Lenny. Mark Cassidy and his white mates - the Footy Heads - take every opportunity they can to bully Jamie and his friends. On Lenny's last night in town before moving to Sydney, after another episode of racist harassment, Jamie, Dally and Lenny decide to retaliate by vandalising Mark Cassidy's car. And when they discover the keys are in the ignition ... Dally changes the plan. Soon they are all in Mark Cassidy's stolen car cruising through town, aiming to take it for a quick spin, then dump it. But it's a bad plan. And as a consequence, Jamie ends up in the youth justice system where he must find a way to mend his relationships with himself, his friends, his family and his future. 'A lightning bolt to the soul. The Boy from the Mish announces a bold, necessary new talent.' WILL KOSTAKIS'This compelling coming of age story is told with a voice so authentic, it pulls the reader into another life. Main character, Jamie, makes all the mistakes of a teenager struggling with the pain of the past and the turbulence of the present, but his humour and honesty creates empathy for someone who would otherwise be misunderstood. Gary Lonesborough's use of language, including sections of verse, is so well done it described the indescribable. The pace kept the pages turning and the ending brought relief and hope for the future'. - Judges' comments, ACT Literary Awards

WINNER: 2025 CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers SHORTLISTED: 2025 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, Indigenous Writing'A moving coming-of-age story with so much heart. For readers who enjoyed Heartstopper.' BOOKS & PUBLISHINGFootsteps approach behind me. I turn and see an Aboriginal boy arriving at the doorway. He's tall, taller than me. He's got curly hair. His body is fit. His chest is chiselled and bare and he's wearing only football shorts.When 17-year-old Jonah arrives in a new town - Patience - with his dad and younger brothers, it feels like a foreign place. A new town means he needs to make new friends - which isn't always easy. Especially when he's wrestling with his body image, and his memories of his mother.When he joins the local footy team so he can spend more time with his new crush, Harley, he feels like he's moving closer to something good. But even though he knows what he wants, it doesn't mean he's ready.Emotionally compelling, honest and warm, I'm Not Really Here is a beautiful novel about navigating family and friendships, and finding a way through grief towards love, from an internationally acclaimed bestselling First Nations author.Praise for Gary Lonesborough'What a revelation this young writer is. He is doing something no other male First Nations novelist has attempted: the YA Blak queer genre that is a glimpse into another world view, at once confronting yet heartwarming.' - AUSTRALIAN BOOK REVIEW [We Didn't Think it Through]'A lightning bolt to the soul. The Boy from the Mish announces a bold, necessary new talent.' WILL KOSTAKIS

SHORTLISTED: 2022 CBCA Book of the Year, Older ReadersSHORTLISTED: 2022 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, Indigenous Writing PrizeSHORTLISTED: 2022 NSW Premier's Literary Award, Indigenous Writers' Prize SHORTLISTED: 2022 Adelaide Festival Awards, Young Adult Fiction Award SHORTLISTED: 2021 QLD Literary Awards, Griffith University Young Adult Book Award 'I don't paint so much anymore,' I say, looking to my feet.'Oh. Well, I got a boy who needs to do some art. You can help him out,' Aunty Pam says, like I have no say in the matter, like she didn't hear what I just said about not painting so much anymore. 'Jackson, this is Tomas. He's living with me for a little while.' It's a hot summer, and life's going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It's almost Christmas, school's out, and he's hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson's Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city - but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them... As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret - a secret he thought he'd locked away for good. Compelling, honest and beautifully written, The Boy from the Mish is about first love, identity, and the superpower of self-belief.'The Boy from the Mish is an extraordinary debut novel, and I loved this tender, beautiful story with all my heart. Jackson and Tomas stole my heart, and I'll be thinking about them for a long time.' NINA KENWOOD'A lightning bolt to the soul. The Boy from the Mish announces a bold, necessary new talent.' WILL KOSTAKIS 'How I wish I had this big-hearted book when I was a teenager. It would've changed my life. Let it change yours.' BENJAMIN LAW 'It is, honestly, a book I've been searching for over my whole career as an editor, as well as all my years as a (queer) reader. I'm not ashamed to say that it made me cry (repeatedly) and awed me with the power of its storytelling.' DAVID LEVITHAN, Scholastic US Editorial Director'A deftly woven tale that is both a raw, unflinching look at the experience of growing up gay and Aboriginal, and a sweet, truly endearing love story you just can't turn away from. This is Own Voices storytelling at its best.' HOLDEN SHEPPARD'Honest. Funny. Beautiful. This book is all the things.' GABBIE STROUD'What an amazing work Gary Lonesborough has launched into the world. It's bound to launch him into the stratosphere. This story will lighten and enrich the life of many.' JARED THOMAS