How To Make A Basket is a poetry collection by Jazz Money that draws readers into the rich tapestry of contemporary Indigenous Australian experience. This David Unaipon Award–winning work blends humor with sharp insight to confront the complexities of life in the Australian colony today. Written for adults and for poetry lovers who crave voices that are fearless, intimate, and socially engaged, the book carries a warm, defiant, and hopeful tone.

Money writes in a blend of Wiradjuri and English, weaving memory, place, and identity as the rhythms of love and resistance. In How To Make A Basket, personal memory sits beside political critique, and Blak and queer love shines through the violence of colonization, offering resilience and beauty that feels both intimate and universal. The poems invite readers to listen to ancestors and to the living voices of today, creating a sense of continuity and reclamation.

Money's writing uses bilingual language, allowing memory and belonging to deepen with each line. The collection moves with a deliberately musical pace—lyrical, sometimes playful, sometimes spare—so the experience is immersive rather than didactic. Whether exploring the weight of history or celebrating the warmth of community and queer love, the poems keep momentum through vivid imagery and precise observation.

• Poems that blend Wiradjuri and English to explore memory, place, and identity
• Personal and political narratives honoring Blak and queer love
• Humor and sharp critique that confront colonial violence with resilience
• Lyrical, rhythmic language and vivid imagery that invite rereading
• A David Unaipon Award–winning voice that invites reflection and reclamation

After finishing How To Make A Basket, readers carry a deeper understanding of Indigenous histories and a renewed sense of belonging. The book invites you to reimagine and re-voice the stories that color our world, leaving you moved, thoughtful, and inspired to view your own place in history with empathy and hope.