Troubled Waters: Borders, boundaries and possession in the Timor Sea

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Once a backwater, the Timor Sea is now the most militarised and fiercely guarded of any region in Australian territory. A social, political and cultural history with a particularly strong chapter on people smuggling and the Tampa. Joint winner of the 2003 Australian Vogel Literary Award.

Author Bio

Ruth Balint was born and grew up in Sydney and holds a doctorate in History from the University of Sydney. Her family moved to Broome many years ago, and she now counts Broome as her second home. It was there that she first encountered the Indonesian fishermen, and listened to their stories in Broome Prison. This led to her writing and directing the film Troubled Waters which went on to win the Dendy Best Documentary Award in 2002, a human rights award and a nomination for an If award. Research for the film became the springboard for this book. Ruth has since made another shorter current affairs story for SBS, produced radio documentaries for ABC Radio National and worked as an oral historian. She is currently working on two new projects, a documentary film about the Sydney and Budapest connection in the post-war era, and a new history about the place of Australia's diverse and far-flung islands in the geographical imagination.