The Midwest Prize, 2023

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Australia’s fraught sense of national identity continues to be manifested and transferred into new canons. Questions of what stories and legends occupy and define our national consciousness continue to resonate. Our fear of the unknown gives justification for our actions to dominate, conquer and divide.

Although undoubtedly progression is evident, we still seem to be clinging to the veil of an identity that refuses to embrace and accept all the complexities of our nation as a whole. Using a humorous approach that appeals to the self-deprecation and larrikinism that most Australians will recognise, I aim to gently prod at the subject of identity in this continent and the complexities that arise.