Mary Tennant is a retired registered nurse. She completed her general training at the Princess Alexandra Hospital,midwifery at the Mater Mother’s in Brisbane and Community Child Health certificate at Curtin University Perth. Later she obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science (Nursing) and a Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine and worked at the Telathon Institute for Child Research. Mary has worked in hospitals in Brisbane and Perth but the majority of her career has been in Aboriginal Health.Mary Tennant said that winning the Finch Memoir Prize was ‘exhilarating because Finch has provided an avenue for my story to reach a broader audience. I always knew my story was worth telling but I was unsure that I could write it in format in such a way that it would appeal to readers. It was very rewarding to be judged the winner by well-known and gifted authors.’