The Desert Knows Her Name is optioned for screen
Affirm Press is delighted to announce that Lia Hills’ novel The Desert Knows Her Name (published in 2024) has been optioned for screen adaptation by Pink Lake Creative. Based in the Wimmera, where Hills’ novel is set, Pink Lake Creative is a collaborative social enterprise and production company, co-managed by award-winning playwright, filmmaker and proud Wotjobaluk and Ngarrindjeri woman, Tracey Rigney. Hills met Rigney while she was researching and writing The Desert Knows Her Name, and Rigney’s guidance was invaluable to Hills’ process.
Lia Hills said: ‘That such an important filmmaker as Tracey Rigney is looking to adapt The Desert Knows Her Name, set on her Country, is something I could never have imagined when I began this work. It feels like the best way this journey could’ve continued. Stories deeply connected to place raise questions about how those places have been storied as part of the colonial project, and the necessity of challenging those historical narratives. Collaboration between First Nations and non-Indigenous writers can only help deepen this conversation.’
Tracey Rigney said ‘I first met Lia when she was coming up to my mother’s Country to immerse herself in her process for her novel. I was struck by her way of storytelling and admired the respectful approach she undertook – even though she is a Pakeha from New Zealand. When I finally got my signed copy of the book, I devoured it and really could visualise it as this is the Country I grew up on and live on. It only makes sense for me to bring this important story to life on screen as a filmmaker. Lia and I have forged a really great friendship, and I think that’s what is at the heart of storytelling – the way in which it brings and unites voices together for a common purpose beyond who we are as people.’
Affirm Press publisher Ruby Ashby-Orr said: 'I've rarely seen a writer who can capture a place on the page as beautifully as Lia does in The Desert Knows Her Name. That it resonated with Tracey is a huge testament to Lia's writing, and to the care and complexity she brings to her storytelling. This novel is as much an expression of a landscape as it is a gripping, poignant and ultimately hopeful story of Australia as a whole. I can't wait to see it on the screen!'
Lia Hills is represented by Catherine Drayton from InkWell Management.