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Lies, Damned Lies

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Lies, Damned Lies

By: Claire G. Coleman
Narrated by: Lisa Maza
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About this listen

A deeply personal exploration of Australia's colonisation past, present and future by one of Australia's finest contemporary authors.

This is a difficult piece to write. It cuts closer to the bone than most of what I have written; closer to my bones, through my blood and flesh to the bones of truth and country; there is truth here, not disguised but in the open, and that truth hurts.

In Lies, Damned Lies, acclaimed author Claire G. Coleman, a proud Noongar woman, takes the listener on a journey through the past, present and future of Australia, lensed through her own experience. Beautifully written, this literary work blends the personal with the political, offering listeners an insight into the stark reality of the ongoing trauma of Australia’s violent colonisation.

Colonisation in Australia is not over. Colonisation is a process, not an event - and the after-effects will continue while there are still people to remember it.

©2021 Claire G Coleman (P)2021 W F Howes Indigenous Studies Racism & Discrimination Social Sciences Specific Demographics Discrimination Colonial Period

Critic Reviews

"An urgent examination of oneself and one’s country. Written with a booming cadence that demands to be read aloud, again and again." (Tara June Winch, Miles Franklin Award-winning author of The Yield)

"You may think you’re woke, but Coleman never sleeps." (Dr Tyson Yunkaporta, best-selling author of Sand Talk)
All stars
Most relevant  
A very worthy listen. Challenging. But worth it. Thank you Claire for your work. I can’t imagine this was an easy write!

Compelling

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After abandoning Terra Nulius half way because it lost the plot I decided to listen to this book instead.

There was a point early on, where the writer seemed to have lost the plot again delving into very unrelated territory, but I’m glad I decided to move to the next chapter, instead of jumping off ship, because the book is worth it.

There are parts where it becomes repetitive, abstract, goes around in circles, it’s more like a rant of a person trying to get things of their chest; and it’s pity because I found myself zoning out, and having to rewind when I realised we were back on track.

The writer makes a lot of axiomatic points and logical leaps. She seems fixated on the English and spends a lot of time defining racism as if the only two cultures in the world are English and “Blacks”. This comes from a Greek married to a Chinese who worked in multiple cultures: racism is much more intertwined and broad. I get the feeling the writer confuses discrimination and pure oppression which have many forms, with racism. She also takes the “left-and-right/black-and-white” stance, you are either here or there … not allowed to be in-between or take a stance on either side on some matters.

And since I mentioned Greek further up, Medusa is a Greek mythological creature, and yes, geographically it’s origin is located somewhere near Turkey. Turkey itself is a more modern nation, arguably created by an invading power that integrated, assimilated or exterminated the previous people and cultures. Not writing this to open discussion on the topic but hey, here is an example that things are much more complicated, and the writer herself accepts the status quo, the same status quo she tries to dismantle in the case of Australia and the indigenous people … who by the way I respect like every other person, and I’m really saddened when I see how some of these proud people have ended up …

But back to the point, the book is worth listening to.

Eye opening as long as you manage to go through it

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The only thing that challenges me about this account of the true history of Australia is that it is not the history I learned in school.

This beautiful piece of writing skilfully weaves the personal story of The writer in with the history of the nation.

A must read for anyone who is committed to unlearning the fictional history of their education and learning the truth.

Powerful and beautiful

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What an amazing, well written and read of the history of Australia, by our First Nation People. I learnt so many truths about our history, contrary to the written English history l learnt at school. This is a story that needs to be told and read by All Australians. Well done Claire, you should be so proud.

truth, just truth, the true story if Australia.

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This audiobook taught me things I never knew about Australian history and prompted deep reflection about the power we all have to tell the truth, acknowledge the past, respect First Nations knowledge and address racism now.

Incredible important book!

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I really enjoyed this audio book, so much so I went and got a hard copy too! Coleman is an exceptional writer, and I enjoyed the way that she wove poetry and art throughout. She was generous with her story and strong in her conviction. Treaty Now!

Decolonisation in action!

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Claire confronts every assumption, every white-washed history lesson, every overheard conversation between adults during my childhood. thank you for this. An absolutely brilliant book. and the narration by Lisa Naza is perfect.

brutal and brilliant

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.