Shortlisted for the 2025 Queensland Literary Awards, The University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award

Shortlisted for the 2025 Stella Prize

Readings Best Books of 2024, Non-Fiction

The story of Australia's Black convicts has been all but erased from our history. On the First Fleet of 1788, at least 15 convicts were of African descent. By 1840 the number had risen to almost 500. But although some of these lives were documented and their likenesses hang in places like the National Portrait Gallery, even their descendants are often unaware of their existence. In recovering their lives, Santilla Chingaipe offers a fresh understanding of this fatal shore, showing how empire, slavery, race and memory have shaped the nation.



Santilla Chingaipe is a Zambian-born filmmaker, historian and author whose work excavates the stories Australia has long chosen to forget.

Her debut book of non-fiction, Black Convicts, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and longlisted for the prestigious Cundill History Prize, cementing her place among Australia's most important historians.

The critically acclaimed documentary inspired by the book, Our African Roots, made history as the first time an African-Australian host interrogated the nation's colonial past on Australian television.

A former SBS World News journalist, Santilla spent nearly a decade reporting across Africa, interviewing some of the continent's most prominent leaders while also covering Australia's diverse African diasporic communities.

Her influence extends well beyond Australia's borders. In 2019, she was recognised at the United Nations as one of the most influential people of African descent in the world under 40. She has delivered the annual E.W. Cole Lecture at the Wheeler Centre. She is a regular contributor to The Saturday Paper and a columnist for The Monthly.

Santilla is also a committed champion of inclusive storytelling. She is the founder of Behind The Screens, an annual VicScreen-supported program increasing representation for people historically excluded from the Australian film industry.

She hosts two monthly cultural events: the literary series First Chapter and its sister event, No Skips: A Listening Party. Because she loves reading. And dancing.

She lives and works in Melbourne.



Chingaipe's storytelling style invites readers into an intricate dialogue about the past, showcasing her remarkable ability to blend personal reflection with archival inquiry.