When Words Fail Us

Stan Grant | Hard Cover | May 2026 

I am out of words at home. I have grown bored with my language, bored with my voice, bored with my writing. My words labour under the weight of Australia’s history. The land itself, as much as I love it, bears down hard.

Now in another place, I am finding lighter words. At times, I may not need to speak at all. I smile; I nod. I seek permission to speak. Please, do you mind? Will you allow me?

In an important book for our times, Stan Grant – one of Australia’s most prominent writers on identity, nationhood and belonging – reflects on how we struggle to speak to one another today, and the importance of listening, silence and philosophy, from Plato to Simone Weil to Radiohead.

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Author Info

Stan Grant is a Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi man. He is a public intellectual who has worked as a journalist, presenter, filmmaker and author. In his journalism he has reported from more than 80 countries, won three Walkley Awards, a Logie Award and four Asia TV Awards. As a writer he has published seven books including the bestselling Talking to My Country, which won the Walkley Book Award. In 2016, he was appointed to the Referendum Council on Indigenous recognition. In 2018, he was appointed Professor of Global Affairs at Griffith University. The full-length documentary film The Australian Dream won the 2019 AACTA Award for best feature documentary and the 2019 Walkley Documentary Award. In 2020, he became the International Affairs Analyst at the ABC and the Vice-Chancellor's Chair of Australian-Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University. From 2022–23, Grant hosted the ABC’s current affairs panel program Q+A.