We are thrilled that Raymaŋgirrbuy dhäwu When I was a little girl by Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr has been shortlisted for the 2026 NT Book Awards in the Children's/Young Adult category.

This is a sweetly told story of the author’s experiences with her grandmother. From watching her grinding ochre and painting in the shade of a tree, to hunting for bush honey (guku) and painting cermonial guku designs on their bodies (special permission was given to Kylie to paint this) and doing the guku dance to full-moon night fishing and cooking up a fish feast on the beach.

Kylie Gatjawarrawuy Mununggurr said:

"I am excited and proud that my book has been shortlisted, I am happy to share my story and pictures with everyone."

The winners of the NT Book Awards will be announced on Wednesday 23 September at the NT Writing Awards, an exciting new event on the NT literary calendar, bringing together the NT History Book Awards and NT Literary Awards for the first time. Celebrations will be held in Garramilla/Darwin, Mparntwe/Alice Springs and online.

Winners will each receive a $10,000 Arts NT Fellowship to further develop their skills, talents and new works. Shortlisted authors will receive $1,000.

You can view the full shortlist here.

About the creator

Kylie was born in Darwin and moved to Gapuwiyak with her mother where she started school.  When a school opened on her grandmother’s country Raymaŋgirr Kylie went to school there. The language of Raymaŋgirr is Marraŋu but this story is told in Djambarrpuyŋu because everyone understands Djambarrpuyŋu in North-east Arnhem Land, although there are many other languages.