B.
Wongar, the pen name of Serbian writer Sreten Božić, died on March 8, 2026, aged 93-94. Born in 1932 in Gornja Trešnjevica, in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, he lived in Australia for much of his life.
His writing focused largely on the condition of Aboriginal people in Australia. His 1978 short story collection, The Track to Bralgu, drew critical acclaim from the foreign press, though later revelations about his Serbian background and inconsistencies in his life story led to controversy over claims that he was Aboriginal.
Sreten Božić (Serbian Cyrillic: Сретен Божић; 1932 – 8 March 2026), known by his pen name B. Wongar, was a Serbian writer who lived in Australia. For most of his literary career, the concern of his writing has been, almost exclusively, the condition of Aboriginal people in Australia. His 1978 short story collection, The Track to Bralgu, was released to critical acclaim by the foreign press, who were led to believe by publisher Little Brown that Wongar was of Aboriginal ethnicity. The revelation that Wongar was a Serbian immigrant, as well as inconsistencies in his life story, have led to controversy and allegations of literary hoax and cultural appropriation.