Program: Encore: Mt Druitt to Tonga, how Winnie embraced her cultural heritage

Winnie Dunn was born into a big Tongan family in Western Sydney but she felt conflicted about her heritage growing up.

While at high school the Chris Lilley character, 'Jonah from Tonga’, became a national joke and her first trip to Tonga as a teenager was a disaster.

But over time Winnie’s understanding of what it means to be Tongan evolved, and at the age of 28, she became the first Tongan Australian to have a novel published.

Further information

Dirt Poor Islanders is published by Hachette