Julie Janson (standing, second from right) at the Newcastle Writers Festival 2023. Photo: Supplied.
You would think Julie Janson’s life would be inspiration enough for a book or two. For a year she taught 52 Aboriginal children in a large caravan school on a cattle station in the Northern Territory. While living in the Territory, she waded chest-high through a crocodile-infested river with a newborn daughter on her head.
In researching the family history of her father though she uncovered some marvellous characters.
She discovered her father descended from a line of Darug matriarchs.
Ms Janson’s three times great grandmother Maria Byrnes is the foundation of her critically acclaimed historical novel Benevolence. The equally well-received sequel, Compassion, is based on the life of Maria’s daughter, Mary Thomas, who went on trial for stealing livestock.
The writer of three published novels and 10 produced plays, Ms Janson is also an award-winning poet, shortlisted for the 2025 Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize.
On Tuesday 4 March, she will talk at Batemans Bay Library about her journey to becoming a writer. The talk is part of Eurobodalla Shire Council’s schedule of activities to mark International Women’s Day.
She moved from Sydney’s Northern Beaches to Moruya during the Black Summer bushfires.
Her husband Michael has owned an 1880s shack on the Deua River since he was 23.
“We always went there on holidays, camping on the river with three children, so when it was time to leave Sydney because it was so crowded, we thought we would give Moruya a go,” Ms Janson said.
Author, playwright and award-winning poet Julie Janson with her historical novel Compassion that was published in 2024. Photo: Supplied.
Ms Janson grew up in a Housing Commission house in Boronia Park on the Lane Cove River.
In the 1970s, before she had finished her teaching qualification, Ms Janson volunteered on an Aboriginal housing project in Bourke, NSW.
She saw appalling living conditions on the Bourke Reserve, with one tap for the 400 people.
“After that I made a commitment to do everything to find out about my own Aboriginal heritage, and my life’s work would be in Aboriginal education,” Ms Janson said.
“I devoted my creative work to Aboriginal rights in NSW, recognition of a fair go, and the humanity we have to uncover in ourselves to fight racism.”
Researching her Indigenous father’s side of the family had its challenges. Birth certificates and marriage certificates were often missing, although death certificates contained a fair amount of information.
“Because there is so little information on NSW Aboriginal lives, you have to make some of it up based on research in the Mitchell Library and Windsor Library,” Ms Janson said.
“After writing Benevolence I was curious about what happened next, so it is about mother, daughter, and the daughter’s daughter, a trilogy. I hadn’t planned it to be like that.”
Julie Janson (right) with Miles Franklin winner 2023 Shankari Chandran at the BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival. Photo: Supplied.
Ms Janson’s other book, Madukka the River Serpent, is an Indigenous crime novel.
She likes writing crime novels because they present an opportunity to explore the journey of a female mature Indigenous private investigator, June Thomas.
“If I pick up a crime novel written by a man, I can’t read it,” Ms Janson said. “It is often very violent, often anti-female, and visceral.”
Her debut crime novel was longlisted for the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award and for the 2023 Davitt Award for Best Adult Crime Novel.
Ms Janson said it was perhaps the second time a crime novel had been nominated for the Miles Franklin.
She is currently working on another crime novel, Waagaan the Bloody Crow, as well as the final instalment in the historical novel trilogy.
Ms Janson is a huge reader, devouring classic English authors such as George Eliot, Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope, as well as their American and Russian peers.
“They influence the way I write, especially historical novels,” she said.
Ms Janson’s talk is bound to be fascinating given she promises anecdotes. “I am usually amusing. I can’t help myself.”
She warns other writers “it can be incredibly difficult to get published”.
Ms Janson self-published two novels before Magabala Books published Benevolence in 2020, then Harper Collins US and UK. Benevolence was shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award 2022, and in 2020 was longlisted for the NIB Literary Award and the Voss Literary Prize.
Ms Janson’s talk starts at 2 pm on Tuesday 4 March. While the event is free, bookings are essential and spaces are limited. Bookings can be made online or through Eurobodalla shire libraries.
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