Author Talk with Shauna Bostock

Shauna Bostock

Reaching Through Time

Finding my family's stories

Author, historian and proud Bundjalung woman, Shauna Bostock will enthral you with tales of her family history from her new book Reaching through time: finding my family’s stories.
A phone call from her uncle with a snippet of information about her slave trading ancestor, led Shauna on a journey of discovery with tales coming from Africa, Colonial Hobart and the Tweed Heads region of NSW. Shauna sifted painstakingly through public and private documents that uncovered stories of the dispossession of land, cruelty by the Aborigines Protection Board, and more recently stories of activism and art in Redfern. 

'Compelling and courageous truth-telling.' - Dr Jackie Huggins AM, historian and author

'This brilliantly researched, difficult-to- put-down history demonstrates how five generations of a multi-talented Aboriginal family made their worlds anew.' - Professor Ann McGrath AM
'Children stolen, homes resumed, authorities spying, ASIO snooping. Bostock's family has it all - yet she can still see the funny side. This is why we need family histories. This is why we need truth-telling.' - Professor Peter Read AM

'Erased from history, dispossessed, forgotten – her ancestors came alive in the archives as if they had been waiting for someone to find them there, to tell their stories.' - The Guardian

'Reaching Through Time is the epitome of Indigenous family life writing...Bostock's storytelling is engaging and compassionate. She has invited us into her family's conversations and into the kitchens and loungerooms of her family's homes.' - Australian Book Review

About the author

A former primary school teacher, Shauna Bostock's curiosity about her ancestors took her all the way to a PhD in Aboriginal history.