Author Description

<p><strong>Winner, Prime Minister&#39;s Literary Award for Non-fiction 2023</strong></p><p>‘My Father and Other Animals is a warm, surprising and beautifully crafted book.’ —Billy Griffiths, author of Deep Time Dreaming</p><p>Sam Vincent is a twenty-something writer living in the inner suburbs, scrabbling to make ends meet, when he gets a call from his mother: his father has stuck his hand in a woodchipper, but ‘not to worry – it wasn&#39;t like that scene in Fargo or anything’. When Sam returns to the family farm to help out, his life takes a new and unexpected direction.</p><p>Whether castrating calves or buying a bull – or knocking in a hundred fence posts by hand when his dad hides the post-driver – Sam&#39;s farming apprenticeship is an education in grit and shit. But there are victories, too: nurturing a fig orchard to bloom; learning to read the land; joining forces with Indigenous elders to protect a special site. Slowly, Sam finds himself thinking differently about the farm, about his father and about his relationship with both.</p><p>By turns affecting, hilarious and utterly surprising, this memoir melds humour and fierce honesty in an unsentimental love letter. It&#39;s about belonging, humility and regeneration – of land, family and culture. What passes from father to son on this unruly patch of earth is more than a livelihood; it is a legacy.</p><p>‘Sam Vincent probes deeply into some of the biggest issues of our time ... This book is a celebration of the love of land and builds bridges of understanding that will appeal to a broad cross section of readers.’ —Judges&#39; comments, Prime Minister&#39;s Literary Awards</p><p>‘My Father and Other Animals is a beautiful tale of legacy, family, and a millennial finding his place in the world.’ —Samuel Bernard, The Weekend Australian ‘Notable Books’</p><p>‘For any reader desiring to understand contemporary rural Australia, this entertaining and important book is a must-read.’ —Charles Massy, author of Call of