Yankunytjatjara author Kunyi June Anne McInerney has been recognised for literacy excellence at the 2022 Queensland Literary Awards, receiving the Children's Book Award for her text, Kunyi.

Kunyi tells the story of what childhood was like for Ms McInerney, who was just four years old when she and her three siblings were taken from their family to live in a South Australian children's home.

Through a collection of more than 60 paintings and accompanying stories, Kunyi reveals the loneliness, fear and courage that Ms McInerney and other Stolen Generations children experienced in the 1950's.

In receiving the award, Ms McInerney said she wrote Kunyi for the fellow Stolen Generations children that she lived with as a child.

"I'm really happy I did this for all the children in the mission home," she said.

"These are my stories that I want to share.

"I hope people read my stories to understand what happened to us as members of the Stolen Generation."

In commenting on the award, the Judges acknowledged the significance of the challenges that Ms McInerney faced throughout her childhood.

"At four years old, Kunyi was taken from her family to Oodnadatta Children's Home where she was made to change her name, speak English and form a new family with other taken children," they said.

"Raw, honest, significant, Kunyi's collection of stories and paintings details sorrow, courage, resilience and love, and is an unforgettable chronicle of childhood experienced by a Stolen Generations survivor."

Ms McInerney was one of five First Nations authors recognised as part of the annual awards presentation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MdlHHFhyrGU

The David Unaipon Award for an Emerging Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander writer was awarded to Koori woman Mykaela Saunders for her collection of stories titled "Always Will Be - stories of Goori sovereignty, from the future(s) of the Tweed".

Noongar woman Claire G. Coleman received the Non-Fiction Book Award for "Lies, Damned Lies", a personal exploration of Australia's colonial past, present and future.

The Steele Rudd Award for a Short Story Collection was awarded to Tony Birch for his short story, Dark as Last Night.

Munanjahli woman Chelsea Watego was voted People's Choice Queensland Book of the Year Award for Another Day in the Colony, a text that examines the ongoing and daily racism faced by First Nations people.

Kunyi has been shortlisted for multiple awards, including the 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards, Small Publisher's Children's Book of the Year awards and was a notable title in the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year Awards.