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The Papunya Literature Production Centre (PLPC) was the centre of community life at Papunya in the 1980s. Fuelled by youthful energy and guided by the community’s Elders – among them pioneers of the Western Desert Art movement – the centre produced more than 300 Pintupi-Luritja readers in a little over ten years. These illustrated books include stories of first contact, Dreaming, community life, plants, animals and more. Some are funny and wildly creative; others are moving and dramatic. All of them are undeniably extraordinary.  

Wangka Wakaṉutja, Pintupi-Luritja for ‘the story has been told’, tells the remarkable story of the artists, writers and readers of the PLPC, tracing the books through creation, use, loss and rediscovery. This is the definitive story of a radical bilingual literature movement, powered by collective creativity and cultural pride.

About the authors

Vivien Johnson

Vivien Johnson is the book’s lead author, as signalled by her occasional use of the first person. Vivien’s connection to Papunya, its artists and art movement spans more than four decades and is explored in numerous books, articles, catalogues and exhibitions. Awarded a National Library Australian Literary Fellowship in 2019, her annotated catalogue of the 250 ‘Papunya readers’ in the Library’s collection provided the backbone of the book. Extensive new research on the Papunya authors and illustrators underpins her contribution.

Charlotte Phillipus

Charlotte Phillipus was a leading writer for the Papunya Literature Production Centre, authoring or co-authoring 56 books in over a decade of involvement. She is a retired teacher, community linguist, renowned artist and community leader and authority on the Pintupi-Luritja language. She edited the Hansens’ 2022 encyclopaedic dictionary and contributed entries and text. Charlotte has guided Vivien and Samantha in all stages of the project and overseen research and development of this book. She led community liaison, collaborated to gather oral histories locally and contributed her own story to this book. 

Samantha Disbray

Samantha Disbray is a non-Indigenous academic and community linguist, who supports and researches Indigenous languages in education and the arts. As lead author of Chapter 4, she drew on her experiences as a teacher-linguist for the Northern Territory Education Department and her research on the Northern Territory Bilingual Education program and contributed research including oral history interviews to further chapters.

Pronouncing Pintupi-Luritja words 

The best way to learn how to pronounce words is to hear them. These example words give you the sounds of different consonants and vowels. These words were spoken by Karen McDonald and recorded by Samantha Disbray.  

Consanonts