Twelve books have made the shortlist for this year’s entries in The Age Book of The Year awards, and Clare Wright’s Naku Dharuk The Bark Petitions is one of them!

The books on the shortlist have been described as particularly exciting in “eclecticism and range” by the judges, author and critic Bram Presser, and The Age and Sydney Morning Herald’s Canberra bureau chief Michelle Griffin.

Clare Wright’s Bark Petitions was described as; “a living testament to the struggle of the Yolngu people to protect and celebrate their connection to country”, by the judges.

The 44th Age Book of the Year winners each receive $10,000, courtesy of the Copyright Agency’s cultural fund, and the winners will be announced by Age editor Patrick Elligett at The Athenaeum Theatre on May 8 as part of the opening night of this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival.