Winner of the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards 2018 Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer

‘This deeply personal book is also an important historical record. Written from the heart and covering a period of time working on Christmas Island with asylum seekers until her return to Australia with an urgency to bear witness, Pettitt-Schipp’s steady eye is levelled at a facade of Australian inclusivity and openness this land’s edge /has always been an invitation/a white-toothed smile/ to walk on . To those denied entry, those white teeth become menace, exclusion, shark, crocodile. In a book filled with heart-breakingly tender portraits, borders and bodies, sanctions and sanctuary are held close to each other in ways which articulate the space but also, the common ground between us .’ - Amanda Joy

‘These beautiful Christmas Island poems capture both the despair of asylum seekers imprisoned by rock and sea and their ancient will to continue.’ - Gillian Triggs