Additional information
by Winnie Dunn (Author)
WINNER OF THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD BEST YOUNG NOVELISTS AWARD 2025
WINNER OF THE KATHLEEN MITCHELL AWARD 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILES FRANKLIN LITERARY AWARD 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE MULTICULTURAL NSW AWARD 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE UTS GLENDA ADAMS AWARD FOR NEW WRITING 2025
'Islanders must do everything together. We painted ngatu together. We crossed the ocean together. We settled on islestogether. We lived with generations upon generations stacked in fibro houses together. We became half-White together. We stayed poor together. Together. Together. Together.'
'a loving, yet challenging, portrait of the Tongan-Australian community . . . this is truly groundbreaking fiction' MELISSA LUCASHENKO, Miles Franklin winning author of Too Much Lip
'ferocious and tender . . . no one is spared and so much is revealed, including the complexity and power of being Tongan.' SHANKARI CHANDRAN, Miles Franklin winning author of Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens
'A fresh and vital new voice. The language dances on the page and creates vibrant characters alive and dripping with life.' FAVEL PARRETT, Miles Franklin shortlisted author of Past the Shallows 'I couldn't put it down. I laughed and I cried and I could smell the food and picture the places. Groundbreaking. Powerful. Brilliant. Masterpiece.' SELA AHOSIVI-ATIOLA
'a perceptive, provocative and personal exploration of growing up in a multicultural family . . . Dirt Poor Islanders is an impressive piece of autobiographic fiction' Weekend Australian 'vibrant . . . Dunn is a lively writer with a laid back sense of humour and a sharp eye for detail. Dirt Poor Islanders blends cultural collision and coming of age, and expands a field of Australian fiction that went mainstream with Christos Tsiolkas' Loaded.' Sydney Morning Herald 'In a beautiful warts-and-all way, Dunn shines a light on her Tongan-Australian upbringing' Daily Telegraph
'Fearless' The Australian Women's Weekly
Author Biography
Dr. Winnie Dunn is Professor and Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy Education at the University of Kansas Medical Center. She is the leading authority and internationally recognized for her research about how people respond to sensory experiences in their everyday lives. Professor Dunn has published widely and her work on sensory processing includes development of a set of measures, called the Sensory Profiles, which are used by many disciplines internationally. She lives with her husband Tim in Kansas City, Missouri.
