Having her second novel I Am Nannertgarrook shortlisted for the 2026 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards’ fiction book of the year is a twofold honour for Geraldton-born-and-raised author and actor Tasma Walton.
Not only is she completely chuffed by the recognition in her home State, it also acknowledges the book based on the true story of her ancestor Nannertgarrook, in which much takes place in the south of WA.
“It’s a challenging story that involves truth-telling a particularly brutal and painful part of our shared history,” proud Boonwurrung woman Walton says, whose four-times great-grandmother endured unimaginable hardship when ripped from her family, culture and country.
“It tells the story of a young woman who is living her life on country, which is the saltwater area of Melbourne, the Boonwurrung clan nation. One late summer’s day, a ship pulls up in Port Phillip Bay on Nerrm, and sealers abduct a group of young women and children.
“They take them to islands off the coast of Tasmania, where she is sold to another sealer, who, to escape scrutiny from the colonist government of the time, then takes Nannertgarrook all the way to Kangaroo Island and then on to Bald Island, essentially off the coast of Albany.
“A lot of it is about exploring this notion of savagery, because all the way through the colonial records, you see Aboriginal people referred to as ‘savages’, and yet the actions and the terrible things these sealers did to these young women and children can only be described as being savage. So who really is the savage in this story?”
With history told from a mostly white male perspective, Walton chose to write the novel as a first-person black female narrative, unlike the colonial records and journals of the time, when the women and children were mere footnotes.
The driving passion behind it was a reclamation of Nannertgarrook’s voice and identity, starting with the title of the book — I Am Nannertgarrook.
“As a child, we were told a much more palatable and romanticised version of this story,” recounts Walton, whose first novel, Heartless, was published in 2009.
“We knew we had this incredibly beautiful black woman who apparently had fallen in love with a merchant seaman, and he had whisked her away to an island life. It doesn’t take much research to discover ‘Oh, I think there might be a lot more to this story’. It’s really not that wonderful romantic idea that we would like it to be.
“I left Geraldton at the age of 18 to move to Sydney, so I had a lot more access to records, and you’re talking to a lot more people about their stories, and you suddenly realise, ‘Oh, there’s a lot darker things going on at that time in our history’.”
The book is a labour of love, and Walton reflects on the writing experience as a very demanding way of storytelling, solitary in comparison with acting, and made even more gruelling given the combination of having a DNA connection to the woman she was writing about, along with the challenging nature of the material.
“At the same time, I really wanted it to be a celebration of the things that she loves,” the Blue Heelers and Mystery Road actor says.
“Her culture, her country, her family, the incredible and ancient storytelling culture that she comes from, and how she keeps hold of that in her being to make sure she remembers who she is and stays grounded in her own truth and identity.”
The isolating nature of writing made sharing her work even more rewarding when the time came.
Husband Rove McManus was the first to read the I Am Nannertgarrook manuscript, and of course, he was incredibly supportive of it.
“One thing that was really beautiful is that, because there’s Boonwurrung language peppered throughout the novel, he started speaking language afterwards,” Walton shares.
“It was such a beautiful acknowledgement of the care and consideration he took as a reader.”
Walton will join other 2026 WA Premier’s Book Awards shortlisted authors for Stories From The West, a day of panel discussions, book signings and live experiences that spotlight the richness, diversity and daring of WA writing at the State Library of WA on August 8.
“To have the experience of being able to share the stories in a community setting is always fantastic,” Walton says.
“A lot of people have read the book by the time they come to these things, and that’s always wonderful, to get that immediate face-to-face feedback and response and conversation with those readers. I love hearing other creatives talk about their process and their way into storytelling. I find that endlessly fascinating, and love being able to speak with them about how they go about making their art.”
Stories From The West is at the State Library of WA on August 8, program and tickets at slwa.wa.gov.au.
Winners of the 2026 WA Premier’s Book Awards will be announced in September.
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