SCRIBNER AUSTRALIA IS DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THE PUBLICATION OF KUMANJAYI: DEATH AND INDIFFERENCE, BY JACK LATIMORE

                                                                                               Photo credit: Justine McManus

Starting with the death of Kumanjayi Walker and the trial of police officer Zachary Rolfe, Latimore’s gripping, revealing reportage takes us deep into the story behind the story, exploring both sides of the case’s cultural divide from the imperatives of Indigenous life on country to the paramilitary masculinity of the police. The subsequent, extraordinary inquest has shed harsh light on the realities of policing in Australia’s remotest regions, and Latimore brings these violent practices out of the shadows, connecting them with other places and cases from Don Dale Detention Centre to the war in Afghanistan. Kumanjayi will show us dimensions of our country that have for too long been hidden. Australian, New Zealand and UK rights were acquired from Melanie Ostell at Melanie Ostell Literary.

Publishing Director Ben Ball says: ‘Jack’s coverage of the trial and inquest has been outstanding: to have the case reported in an Indigenous voice has helped shift the bias in conventionally white coverage of black lives and deaths. Kumanjayi will do the same for the true-crime genre. In it, Jack follows the story into communities, and into other cases, to paint a much broader, richer and more challenging portrait of how the state has policed the Indigenous lives in this country.’

Jack Latimore says: ‘In matters of Aboriginal justice, it’s essential to foreground Aboriginal voices and to bring the perspectives of our communities to broader audiences and general readers across the country.

‘Kumanjayi tells the stories of the abuse, deaths, and indifference experienced by young Blackfullas in contact with police and the state. It delves into the devastating repercussions that racist policing practices across Australia have on our communities, showing the real-world outcomes of justice and the apathy towards the findings of the royal commissions and countless coronial inquests.

‘As Aboriginal-led, formal truth-telling processes burgeon across the nation, I’m thrilled to be working with Simon & Schuster/Scribner on this book. Ben Ball and his team have a proven commitment to amplifying the experiences of our Aboriginal communities and the unique insights of Aboriginal writers.’

Jack Latimore is the Indigenous correspondent for Nine newspapers. He writes on Indigenous affairs, politics, culture, technology, media, and journalism. He has previously written for Guardian Australia, NITV and Koori Mail. He is a Birpai man with family ties to Thungutti and Gumbaynggirr nations.