When the World Was Soft was awarded the NSW State Library Awards 2025 Indigenous Writing prize.
The graphic novel is a collaboration between the Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation and my client, the illustrator Alex Mankiewicz.
Alex was referred to me by a mutual friend after she had experienced extremely unprofessional treatment by another publishing house. I saw immediately the value of this special collaboration and introduced Alex to decision-makers who ultimately made an offer of publication for the work.
In their comments, the prize judges stated:
When the World Was Soft expands the possibilities of Aboriginal literature, demonstrating how story, language and Country are interwoven in ways that remain true to both the source and the medium. It embraces complexity, maintaining the integrity of oral storytelling, while making use of the visual form in ways that feel natural rather than imposed. What results is not just a collection of stories but a living body of knowledge, a carefully held offering that continues the work of cultural transmission across generations.
When the World Was Soft was also a Notable book at the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2025 Book of the Year Awards.
This recognition is welcome for several reasons, among them the fact that Australia’s relationship to the graphic novel is at best ambivalent. For a graphic novel to triumph in a category typically dominated by prose works is a special achievement.
I’m honoured to have been involved in the process of bringing this book to the market, and congratulate Allen & Unwin, Alex Mankiewicz, and the members of the Juluwarlu Aboriginal Corporation.
