The School of Communication and Arts is delighted to announce that Jodie Lea Martire has been awarded the 2025 25th-Anniversary Fellowship from the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP).
Martire, a doctoral candidate at The University of Queensland, was selected for her project "Language rights and minority-language publishing in Australia." Her research explores the intersection of minority-language publishing, community publishing, and language rights.
Using Derrick R. Spires' (2021) concept of liberation bibliography, Martire is conducting research and volunteering with Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative. Her work investigates the day-to-day practice of creating minority-language publications through community publishing.
Muurrbay is an Aboriginal-led organisation working with seven different Language communities in New South Wales. Since 1994, the organisation has published print, audio, and digital materials, including dictionaries, grammars, children's books, and Language-teaching resources.
Martire's collaboration with Muurrbay has been authorised by the organisation's board. As part of this partnership, she volunteers her publishing skills to help build the organisation's publishing capacity while conducting ethnographic and interview-based research. Her focus is on understanding how Muurrbay successfully coordinates publishing in Aboriginal Languages with its partner communities.
The SHARP 25th-Anniversary Fellowship will support Martire's accommodation and transport costs, enabling her to conduct on-site research at Muurrbay's offices in Nambucca Heads and Raymond Terrace.
The ultimate aim of Martire's research is to develop effective principles for minority-language communities wishing to use publishing to strengthen and protect their languages.
We congratulate Jodie on this well-deserved recognition of her important work at the intersection of publishing, language rights, and cultural preservation.
Aunty Sharon Smith
Jodie is currently conducting fieldwork at the Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative in Nambucca Heads.
