Life isn't about how you survived the storm...

it's about how you danced in the rain!

*****

So true for all of us.

All that follows is an ABC excerpt which members may find interesting –

"Kim Scott wins prestigious Miles Franklin

Updated June 23, 2011 09:22:00

 

Scott became the first Aboriginal writer to win the Miles Franklin in 2000 with his book Benang. (AAP: supplied)

Video: 'Post reconciliation novel' wins Miles Franklin (Lateline)

Audio: Indigenous author wins Miles Franklin Award (AM)

Related Story: Past winners make Miles Franklin shortlist

Related Story: Crime writer Temple wins Miles Franklin

Aboriginal author Kim Scott has won this year's Miles Franklin literary award with his novel That Deadman Dance.

The winner of the prestigious $50,000 prize was announced in Melbourne on Wednesday night.

Scott became the first Aboriginal writer to win the Miles Franklin in 2000 with his book Benang. He tied that year with writer Thea Astley.

Scott, from the Noongar country on the south-east coast of Western Australia, is also the author of True Country.

He says the future is promising for Indigenous Australians.

"As an Indigenous writer I think there is such enormous potential and promise in front of us... there's a lot happening around the country and there are enormous things to move forward towards," he said.

Scott's book was described by one of the judges, Professor Gillian Whitlock, as a post-reconciliation novel as it tells the story of Aboriginal and western cultures meeting head-on.

"I winced a little bit when I heard that description," he said.

"There is a lot of reconciling - particularly reconciling ourselves to our shared history - that is yet to happen."

As for the future of books, with major bookstore chain Borders closing its doors, Scott said said it was the story that was important.

"It's story that matters," he said.

"Books give a wonderful... one-on-one for several hours but whether they are paper or electronic, the business of inhabiting someone else's head is really important."

That Deadman Dance is a historical novel, set around the time of white settlement in Australia.

In their formal comments the judges described the book as historical and magical as it drifts between the settler world and the Aboriginal world.

"That Deadman Dance is alive in the spaces between these two worlds as they collide and collaborate," they said.

"We see and feel the hardship, tragedies and aspirations of the settlement, and at the same time we are transported into the mystical and spiritual life worlds of Wabalanginy and his people."