Black Duck - Bruce Pascoe

Black Duck: A Year at Yumburra
by Bruce Pascoe with Lyn Harwood

Published by Thames & Hudson Australia - March 2024 - Paperback - 290pp - 23.5cm x 15.5cm

‘Sometimes you need to repeat something a hundred times before a bell rings in the colony.’

From the bestselling author Bruce Pascoe comes a deeply personal story about the consequences and responsibility of disrupting Australia’s history.

When Dark Emu was adopted by Australia like a new anthem, Bruce found himself at the centre of a national debate that often focussed on the wrong part of the story. But through all the noise came Black Duck Foods, a blueprint for traditional food growing and land management processes based on very old practices.

Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood invite us to imagine a different future for Australia, one where we can honour our relationship with nature and improve agriculture and forestry. Where we can develop a uniquely Australian cuisine that will reduce carbon emissions, preserve scarce water resources and rebuild our soil. Bruce and Lyn show us that you don’t just work Country, you look, listen and care. It’s not Black Duck magic, it’s the result of simply treating Australia like herself.

From the aftermath of devastating bushfires and the impact of an elder’s death to rebuilding a marriage and counting the personal cost of starting a movement, Black Duck is a remarkable glimpse into years of finding strength in Country at Yumburra.

‘Bruce and Lyn so eloquently bring us into intimate contact with the land and our beautiful culture.’ — Allira Potter

‘Bruce gets right into the belly of the land and storytelling, a medicine this country needs.’ — Stephen Page

Bruce Pascoe is a Bunurong man born in Melbourne, and writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children's literature. He is a professor at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research at the University of Technology Sydney.
His bestselling book Dark Emu was Book of the Year at the NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2016, as well as being shortlisted for numerous other awards. He is also the author of Young Dark Emu: A Truer History, published in June 2019. He recently collaborated with Bill Gammage and they together wrote Country: Future Fire, Future Farming.