Hailed as a "literary sensation" by "The New York Times Book Review," Carpentaria is the luminous award-winning novel by Australian Aboriginal writer and activist Alexis Wright.Alexis Wright employs mysticism, stark reality, and pointed imagination to re-create the land and the Aboriginal people of "Carpentaria."In the sparsely populated northern Queensland town of Desperance, loyalties run deep and battle lines have been drawn between the powerful Phantom family, leaders of the Westend Pricklebush people, and Joseph Midnight's renegade Eastend mob, and their disputes with the white officials of neighboring towns. Steeped in myth and magical realism, Wright's hypnotic storytelling exposes the heartbreaking realities of Aboriginal life.By turns operatic and everyday, surreal and sensational, the novel teems with extraordinary, larger-than-life characters. From the outcast savior Elias Smith, religious zealot Mossie Fishman, and murderous mayor Bruiser to activist Will Phantom and Normal Phantom, ruler of the family, these unforgettable characters transcend their circumstances and challenge assumptions about the downtrodden "other." Trapped between politics and principle, past and present, the indigenous tribes fight to protect their natural resources, sacred sites, and above all, their people.Already an international bestseller, "Carpentaria" has garnered praise from around the world.

亞曆剋西斯•賴特（Alexis Wright,1950- ），澳大利亞著名原住民作傢。她是生活在澳大利亞卡彭塔利亞灣南部高原瓦安伊部落的成員。亞曆剋西斯•賴特的曾祖父是十九世紀下半葉流落到澳大利亞的中國人。

亞曆剋西斯•賴特也是澳大利亞著名的捍衛原住民權利的社會活動傢。她曾經為澳大利亞土著人的土地權、為北部地區原住民自治政府和憲法的改革，為抵製官方政策對原住民利益的損害，奔走呼號，做瞭多年鬥爭。她在捍衛原住民權利的報刊工作多年，經常發錶針砭時弊的文章。一九九七年，亞曆剋西斯•賴特齣版瞭《格洛格酒之戰》（Grog War）。這本書深刻剖析瞭生活在偏僻的滕南特剋裏剋地區的原住民與格洛格酒有關的嚴重的社會問題，引起廣泛關注。同年，她的長篇小說《希望的土地》（Plains of Promise），獲英聯邦文學創作提名奬，新南威爾士總理小說奬和年度文學奬，並被翻譯成多種文字齣版。但是，迄今為止，亞曆剋西斯•賴特最受歡迎的作品是她的長篇小說《卡彭塔利亞灣》。

亞曆剋西斯•賴特創作的新小說《天鵝》（The Swan Book）將於二〇一二年齣版。目前她是西悉尼大學文學院研究員，RMIT大學榮譽博士。