Weaving Us Together

A sharp and insightful coming-of-age story about all the ways we find home from an exciting debut author and 2022 black&write! Fellow.

When I look back, I realise everything I needed was there all along.

I'm Jean O'Ryan and this is my story. I didn't know who I was or where I belonged when I moved with my dad to a little town surrounded by hills. In that valley where the rivers meet the sea, Seraphina Landry found me fallen over on a road. With a hand from Seraphina and the rest of The Crew, we weave our lives together using threads of hope, grief, joy and love. Never alone, I find my mob, face the worst of days, search for answers, and figure out what kind of person I wanna be.

A sharp and funny Australian YA about a non-binary Aboriginal person as they transverse the ups and downs of life, including finding their family, healing from trauma, and figuring out who they are.

From Gumbaynggirr and Gunggandji writer and black&write! Fellowship winner Lay Maloney.

'A story that will grab your heart with both hands. Poetic, hilarious and heartbreaking in turn, this book is a gift for blak kids and young readers everywhere' Grace Lucas-Pennington, black&write!

Lay Maloney is a young genderfluid storyteller of the Gumbaynggirr and Gunggandji nations and South Sea Islander heritage based on Dunghutti Country. After university, Lay worked at the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition. They did not choose to be a writer - writing chose them. Their first commission was in 2020 for More Than Melanin zine. Their poetry has been published in NANGAMAY MANA DJURALI, and in 2022, they were the recipient of the State Library of Queensland's black&write! Writing Fellowship for their debut novel, Weaving Us Together. They were the Emerging Producer for the 2024 Blak & Bright festival in Naarm, before moving back to Country, where they continue to write fiction and poetry. They tend to only leave their hobbit hole for the essentials: family, friends, adventure and the sea.

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