The University of Melbourne has conferred an honorary doctorate on Dr Alexis Wright, an internationally recognised, multi-award-winning writer.
The Doctor of Letters (honoris causa), the University’s highest honour, was conferred on Dr Wright at a graduation ceremony on Friday 9 August.
Dr Wright, a Waanyi woman from the southern highlands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, recently won the 2024 Miles Franklin Award and Stella Prize for her novel Praiseworthy. Dr Wright’s other works of fiction include The Swan Book and the critically acclaimed Carpentaria, winner of the 2007 Miles Franklin Award.
Dr Wright’s non-fiction writing includes an important study on alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory titled Grog War, and the 2018 Stella Prize winner, Tracker, a biography about the late Aboriginal economic visionary Tracker Tilmouth.
Dr Wright has contributed to research on world literature and Australian Indigenous storytelling and remains an active contributor to Australia’s literary scene. She is an advocate for Indigenous land and human rights and action on climate change and served as a member of the Carpentaria Land Council and the Waanyi Native Title Representative Body.
University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor, Professor Duncan Maskell, congratulated Dr Wright.
“Dr Wright has made an extraordinary contribution to Australian literature and Indigenous storytelling over many years,” Professor Maskell said.
“Dr Wright’s influence has been felt internationally and locally, including the University of Melbourne where she was Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at the Faculty of Arts from 2018 to 2022. The University is proud to recognise Dr Wright in this way.”
