WE COME WITH THIS PLACE | DEBRA DANK

Deb Dank is Gudanji/Wakaja, the people of the now-named Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory Gulf country. 

For almost 40 years she has worked in various roles in primary, secondary and tertiary education including class teacher (primary and secondary), special education teacher and consultant, senior teacher, regional aboriginal education consultant, regional manager, lecturer, senior lecturer, and Head of School (tertiary). 

After her family, she is most passionate about literature and has been a keen reader for as long as she can remember. She considers the gift of reading to absolutely be a result of her parents teaching and their commitment to her learning both from books and with Country. She is also a quilter and developing her skills as a botanical illustrator. 

Her professional interests include teacher education but also how narrative, in its broadest sense, is practiced in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and why semiotics is critical to understanding the breadth of communicative mechanisms and functions in this practice. Her ph. D explored the concept of polyphony with half of her work being published in July 2022 and is called We come with this place. This book was named on the Prime Minister Summer Reading list by the Grattan Institute in 2022. The second half of her study will be published this year, 2023. 

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