Citation for Ms Melissa Lucashenko
Chancellor,
Ms Melissa Lucashenko is a passionate advocate for social justice, and an acclaimed author who has received multiple awards for her work as a novelist, essayist and short story writer.
A proud Bundjalong woman, her storytelling captures the experiences of Indigenous communities, providing invaluable insights into their histories, struggles and triumphs. By giving voice to the realities faced by Indigenous Australians, she has sparked vital conversations and inspired action towards a more inclusive society.
Ms Lucashenko’s first novel, Steam Pigs, was published by UQ Press in 1997 and won the Dobbie Literary Award for women’s fiction. Over the following 5 years, she produced another 3 critically acclaimed novels – Killing Darcy, Too Flash and Hard Yards. Her 2013 novel, Mullimbimby, won awards at both the Queensland Literary Awards and the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.
This was followed in 2018 by the publication of Too Much Lip, which was awarded Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, the Miles Franklin Literary Award.
In 2023, Ms Lucashenko published her seventh novel, Edenglassie, which went on to be awarded the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction and the Queensland Premier's Award for a work of State Significance. This year it also received Australia’s richest literary prize, the ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Ms Lucashenko is a recipient of a Walkey Award for her 2013 long form essay, titled ‘Sinking below sight: down and out in Brisbane and Logan’.
Beyond her many literary achievements, she is also a founding member of the human rights organisation Sisters Inside, an independent community organisation that has advocated for the rights of women and girls in Australian prisons for the past 3 decades.
Chancellor, I present to you Ms Melissa Lucashenko, Bachelor of Commerce with honours and Doctor of the University honoris causa of Griffith University and Doctor of Letters honoris causa of the Australian National University, for the award of Doctor of Letters honoris causa, bestowed by the Senate of The University of Queensland.
