Acknowledgement

I pay my respect to the Boon Wurrung people of the Kulin Nation upon whose ancestral lands I live, write, work, swim and walk. I acknowledge their songlines, storytelling, leadership and care of the land, as well as the pivotal role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to play within the Australian community. I am grateful for all that I am learning as a writer, griever and citizen, from First Nations peoples who are teaching me so much, though I am just beginning. I recognise that sovereignty was never ceded.