Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia

Loving Country is a powerful and essential guidebook that offers a new way to travel and discover Australia through an Indigenous narrative. In this beautifully designed and photographed edition, co-authors Bruce Pascoe and Vicky Shukurolgou show travellers how to see the country as herself, to know her whole and old story, and to find the way to fall in love with her, our home.

Featuring 18 places in detail, from the ingenious fish traps at Brewarrina and the rivers that feed the Great Barrier Reef, to the love stories of Wiluna and the whale story of Margaret River, there is so much to celebrate. This immersive book covers history, Dreaming stories, traditional cultural practices, Indigenous tours and the importance of recognition and protection of place. It offers keys to unlock the heart of this loving country for those who want to enrich their understanding of our continent, and for travellers looking for more than a whistle-stop tour of Australia.

In Loving Country, Bruce and Vicky hope that all communities will be heard when they tell their stories, and that these stories and the country from which they have grown will be honoured. This guide has been created in consultation with communities, and readers are encouraged to discover sacred Australia by reconsidering the accepted history, and hearing diverse stories of her Indigenous peoples. It is a roadmap to communication and understanding, between all peoples and country, to encourage environmental and social change.

About the author

Bruce Pascoe is a Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. He’s worked as a teacher, farmer, fisherman, barman, fencing contractor, lecturer, Aboriginal language researcher, archaeological site worker and editor. He’s also written thirty other books including Found, and academic texts including The Little Red Yellow Black Book with AIATSIS. Dark Emu won Book of the Year and the Indigenous Writer’s Prize at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards in 2016, and has now sold in excess of 200,000 copies.

Vicky Shukuroglou is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher dedicated to deepening her understanding of the Earth through careful observation and hands-on care of country. These drive her creative process, with which she hopes to rouse your heart. She has worked collaboratively with writers, musicians, scientists, Indigenous communities and young people. Remarkable projects have evolved out of her commitment to shifting perceptions and bringing young people’s powerful work to the attention of ‘grown-ups’. Vicky’s supporters and partners have included UNESCO, Sanskriti Kendra, Instituto Sacatar, and other organisations, schools and universities.

Bruce Pascoe, Vicky Shukuroglou
Published December 2020
Hardcover
328 pages 
210mm x 170mm
ISBN 9781741176483