Doris Pilkington Garimara was born on traditional birthing ground under the wintamarra tree. Her life in the Mardu camp was disrupted when as a three-year-old she was taken by the authorities to live within the confines of Moore River Native Settlement. Her remarkable story follows on from the courageous journey of her mother Molly Craig, made legendary in the recently released film, 'Rabbit-Proof Fence'.
This extraordinary story of courage and faith is based on the actual experiences of three girls who fled from the repressive life of Moore River Native Settlement, following along the rabbit-proof fence back to their homelands. Assimilationist policy dictated that these girls be taken from their kin and their homes in order to be made white. Settlement life was unbearable with its chains and padlocks, barred windows, hard cold beds, and horrible food. Solitary confinement was doled out as regular punishment. The girls were not even allowed to speak their language. Of all the journeys made since white people set foot on Australian soil, the journey made by these girls born of Aboriginal mothers and white fathers speaks something to everyone.
Aboriginal literature is a growing field with a rapidly expanding global audience. The book represents a range of writers; it includes highly acclaimed Aboriginal writers whose works are widely recognised (Kim Scott, Doris Pilkington Garimara, Melissa Lucashenko) and other writers whose works are on the ascendancy (Romaine Moreton and Jeanine Leane). This book contributes to the understanding of Aboriginal literature and of how these writers developed as writers. See www.cambriapress.com/books/9781604979114.cfm for reviews, author bio, and more book information on this Cambria Press publication. "This book is an essential resource for anyone with more than a passing interest in Aboriginal writing and Australian literature." - Philip Morrissey, Head of Australian Indigenous Studies, University of Melbourne
The removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families gained national attention in Australia following the Bringing Them Home Report in 1997. However, the voices of Indigenous parents were largely missing from the Report. The Inquiry attributed their lack of testimony to the impact of trauma and the silencing impact of parents’ overwhelming sense of guilt and despair; a submission by Link-Up NSW commented on Aboriginal mothers being “unwilling and unable to speak about the immense pain, grief and anguish that losing their children had caused them.” This book explores what happened to Aboriginal mothers who had children removed and why they have overwhelmingly remained silent about their experiences. Identifying the structural barriers to Aboriginal mothering in the Stolen Generations era, the author examines how contemporary laws, policies and practices increased the likelihood of Aboriginal child removal and argues that negative perceptions of Aboriginal mothering underpinned removal processes, with tragic consequences. This book makes an important contribution to understanding the history of the Stolen Generations and highlights the importance of designing inclusive truth-telling processes that enable a diversity of perspectives to be shared.
Behind the Text is a celebration of the often forgotten genre of creative nonfiction, through research about and interviews conducted with eleven prolific award-winning Australian creative nonfiction authors, including Paul McGeough, Doris Pilkington Garimara (the last interview before her death in 2014), David Leser, Kate Holden, Greg Bearup and Anna Goldsworthy. Joseph has written an account of each author/journalist, including their writing processes, as well as any ethical dimensions in their work. They are located in Australian settings around the country. The Australian creative nonfiction literary landscape is rich and vital, read with relish by Australians, and deals with important and burning national issues. Yet creative nonfiction in Australia is rarely discussed as a cohesive genre. This is the first definitive Australian text which brings together a disparate group of Australian creative nonfiction writers, recognising them and their writing in a way they would be recognised in the USA and Europe. Sue Joseph has been a journalist for more than 35 years, working both in Australia and the UK. She has published three other books: She's My Wife; He's Just Sex, The Literary Journalist and Degrees of Detachment: An Ethical Investigation, and Speaking Secrets, which focuses on literary journalism and ethics. Joseph now teaches print journalism and writing at the University of Technology, Sydney. 'Sue Joseph's fine writing and her magnificent ability to bring the colour, the textures and voice(s) of life into text make her another great Australian creative nonfiction writer.' - Isabel Soares, President of International Association for Literary Journalism Studies 'I was totally entranced by Behind the Text. I finished reading the book and simply started again!' - Graeme Harper, Editor, New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing 'Sue Joseph is one of Australia's leading thinkers on creative nonfiction.' -Matthew Ricketson, Professor, University of Canberra and President of the Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia
In 2006, Tara June Winch's startling debut Swallow the Air was published to acclaim. Its poetic yet visceral style announced the arrival a fresh and exciting new talent. This 10th anniversary edition celebrates its important contribution to Australian literature. When May's mother dies suddenly, she and her brother Billy are taken in by Aunty. However, their loss leaves them both searching for their place in a world that doesn't seem to want them. While Billy takes his own destructive path, May sets out to find her father and her Aboriginal identity. Her journey leads her from the Australian east coast to the far north, but it is the people she meets, not the destinations, that teach her what it is to belong. Swallow the Air is an unforgettable story of living in a torn world and finding the thread to help sew it back together.
In The Threshold of the Visible World Kaja Silverman advances a revolutionary new political aesthetic, exploring the possibilities for looking beyond the restrictive mandates of the self, and the normative aspects of the cultural image-repertoire. She provides a detailed account of the social and psychic forces which constrain us to look and identify in normative ways, and the violence which that normativity implies.
Commissioned for the 1985 Perth Festival, this is the spirited story of the Millimurra family's stand against government 'protection' policies in 1930s Australia.
This international collection of eleven original essays on Australian Aboriginal literature provides a comprehensive critical companion that contextualizes the Aboriginal canon for scholars, researchers, students, and general readers.
