Event details
Join acclaimed writer and Aboriginal farmer Bruce Pascoe and astrophysicist Professor Ray Norris for a profound conversation about their new book Big Sky: When the Emu Left the Earth - an exquisite meeting of ancient sky knowledge, scientific inquiry and philosophical insight.
Grounded in the understanding that “everything has two witnesses, one on earth and one in the sky… this tells you where you came from and where you belong”, Big Sky takes readers on both an ancient and contemporary journey through the night sky. Drawing from First Nations knowledge traditions that have evolved over millennia, Pascoe and Norris explore astronomy not just as science, but as ethics, Law and a guide for living.
Bringing together deep cultural knowledge and cutting edge astrophysics, the book offers ecological and astronomical insights that speak directly to our age of climate threat. Part of Magabala Books’ First Nations, First Knowledges series, this collaborative work positions First Nations astronomy as rigorous, enduring and urgently relevant.
As Pascoe reflects, “This book is a dream of mine and Ray’s, to share the ancient night sky knowledge that Aboriginal people have known for centuries… All humans crave an understanding of our circumstances and destiny… This book answers that need.”
Norris adds, “Thousands of years ago, Aboriginal Australians had a superb and detailed knowledge of the sky… to a degree that would put Galileo to shame… This book… is a deep exploration of the many achievements of the ancient Aboriginal astronomers.”
Together, they invite us to look upward — and inward — to rediscover the cosmic connections that bind us to Country, to community, and to each other.
Presented in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival.
About the speakers
Bruce Pascoe
Bruce Pascoe has published widely in both adult and young adult literature. He has won numerous awards, including the Children’s Book Council of Australia Eve Pownall Award for Young Dark Emu (Magabala Books 2019), New South Wales Premier’s Book of the Year Award in 2016 for Dark Emu (Magabala Books 2014) and the Prime Minister’s Literature Award for Young Adult fiction for Fog a Dox (Magabala Books 2012) in 2013. In 2018 Bruce was awarded the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature. He has worked as a teacher, farmer, fisherman, barman, fencing contractor, lecturer, Aboriginal language researcher, archaeological site worker and editor. Bruce is a Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man, and currently lives on his farm in Gippsland, Victoria.
Ray Norris
Ray Norris is an astrophysicist who has spent his life trying to figure out how the Universe evolved from the Big Bang to the present day, including mysteries such as the Black Holes at the centres of galaxies. For the past 20 years he has studied the astronomy of Indigenous Australians and is fascinated by their many intellectual achievements as they sought to understand their Universe, and the way that astronomy is deeply intertwined with culture. The more he learns about Aboriginal astronomy, the more he realises that it will take another lifetime to truly appreciate it.
Michael Winkler
Michael Winkler is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. His latest novel, Griefdogg, is about a Mildura water scientist who wants to live as the family pet, but discovers this gives him unwanted insights into secret grief. His previous novel Grimmish, shortlisted for the 2022 Miles Franklin Literary Award, was published in the UK, North America and Spain (in translation). Michael won the Calibre Prize for his essay ‘The Great Red Whale’. His journalism, reviews, short fiction and essays have been widely published and anthologised.
