Song of the Crocodile

2022 Longlist

Darnmoor is the home of the Billymil family, three generations who have lived in this ‘gateway town’. Race relations between Indigenous and settler families are fraught, though the rigid status quo is upheld through threats and soft power rather than the overt violence of yesteryear.

As progress marches forwards, Darnmoor and its surrounds undergo rapid social and environmental changes, but as some things change, some stay exactly the same. The Billymil family are watched (and sometimes visited) by ancestral spirits and spirits of the recently deceased, who look out for their descendants and attempt to help them on the right path.

When the town’s secrets start to be uncovered, the town will be rocked by a violent act that forever shatters a century of silence.

About the Author/Translator

Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay writer, musician, composer and educator from North West NSW freshwater plains. A founding member of Indigenous folk duo Stiff Gins, Nardi has been performing nationally and internationally for 20 years. Her debut novel, Song of the Crocodile was a 2018 winner of a black&write! writing fellowship.

Librarian’s Comments

‘Song of the Crocodile’ is an epic saga about three generations of the Billymil family living in the fictional regional Australian town of Darnmoor. Ancestral spirits watch over and intervene in the movements and desires of the Billymils, an Aboriginal family strengthened by love but also faced with racism and violence. In ‘Song of the Crocodile’, babies are born, lives are lost, and secrets from the past threaten generations of family bonds. This is a deeply moving debut novel by an emerging Aboriginal writer. ‘Song of the Crocodile’ has won and been shortlisted for prestigious literary prizes in Australia. State Library of Queensland, Australia