The Belburd

From the award-winning author of Song of the Crocodile comes a lyrical and masterfully woven novel about women, creation, belonging and the precious fragility of a life.

'Mothers are experts at overflow . . . You may forget the words or kisses or gifts they give but that doesn't mean they didn't happen . . . We don't need to remember all the love poured into us. We need to be thankful that it makes us. When it comes to love, it's all about being. Not remembering so much.'

Ginny Dilboong is a young poet, fierce and deadly. She's making sense of the world and her place in it, grappling with love, family and the spaces in which to create her art. Like powerful women before her, Ginny hugs the edges of waterways, and though she is a daughter of Country, the place that shapes her is not hers. Determined and brave, Ginny seeks to protect the truth of others while learning her own. The question is how?

And, all the while, others are watching. Some old, some new. They are the sound of the belburd as it echoes through the world; the sound of cars and trucks and trains. They are in trees and paper and the shape of ideas. They are the builder and the built. Everything, even Ginny, is because of them.

The Belburd is a powerful story that shows us we are all connected from before we began to long after we begin again.

'The most beautiful montage of life and death . . . The Belburd will leave you with a lasting appreciation of place, nature and life itself' BOOKS+PUBLISHING

'A lyrical and haunting exploration of the mystery of being' BRISBANE TIMES

'Poetic. Profound . . . An astonishing read' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY

'A tremendous feat of imagination . . . Indelible' THE GUARDIAN

'With a lyrical mastery only further cultivated since her debut, Simpson finds the sublime in the quotidian, elevating experiences (as base as being born or dying, as complex as grief or motherhood) to an art form' READINGS

'Braids a contemporary setting with cultural storytelling in a lyrical and aesthetic journey. The Belburd skilfully draws readers into its creative banquet' WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

'Simpson is a lyrical, magical weaver of words' ARTSHUB

Praise for Nardi Simpson's Song of the Crocodile

'Exquisite . . . Simpson explores the enduring legacy of violence and racism in a narrative enriched by beautiful descriptions of the landscape' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

'Simpson's writing attains a rare quality of grace, the prose lyrical and grounded at the same time . . . skilfully weaving the profound into the eve

Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay storyteller from New South Wales' (NSW) northwest freshwater plains. As a member of Indigenous duo Stiff Gins, Nardi has travelled nationally and internationally for the past 22 years. She is also a founding member of Freshwater, an all-female vocal ensemble formed to revive the language and singing traditions of NSW river communities.

Nardi is a graduate of Ngarra-Burria First Peoples Composers and is currently undertaking a PhD through the Australian National University's School of Music in Composition. Nardi is the current musical director of Barayagal, a cross-cultural choir based at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. In 2021, Nardi was First Nations artist in residence at the Sydney Conservatorium and with Ensemble Offspring.

Nardi's debut novel, Song of the Crocodile, won the 2017 Black&Write! Fellowship and the ALS Gold Medal, and was longlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Literary Award. Nardi currently lives in Sydney and continues to be heavily involved in the teaching and sharing of culture in both her Sydney and Yuwaalaraay communities.

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