Glenice Whitting's Blog, page 7

Mentone Public Library supports local authors

How fortunate we are, in the city of Kingston, (Victoria, Australia) to have someone like Julia Reichstein to support and nurture local writers. Via her Author for All Seasons events at the Mentone Public Library , she not only showcases local writers, but also supportive organisations such as the Mordialloc Writers Group.

This group meets every second Tuesday to workshop work in progress and has seen both my novels in their raw form.

For over twenty years, creative writing teacher and author, Mairi Neil has been the founder and mainstay of the group. Her editing expertise is legendary. Through her tireless efforts many local writers have had their stories published in the eight anthologies produced. I count myself fortunate to be amongst them.

I was delighted to be with her and members of the group to showcase our latest anthology of essays, Kingston Our City.

   

Julia also invited me to give an author talk on Saturday, 26th November 2016 and has sent out fabulous flyers showcasing my book cover for my latest novel to be published this year by MadeGlobal Publishing.com. Another Victorian author Wendy J Dunn has had her third historical novel Falling Pomegranate Seeds published by MadeGlobal in 2016.

 Something Missing is about Diane, a naive young married woman who knows that there must be more to life than hairdressing and mothering and needs to discover what it is. When she meets in outback Australia, an older, ‘educated’ American she is attracted by Maggie’s self confidence and broad literary and general knowledge. Diane instigates a pen-pal relationship in the desire to absorb wisdom from Maggie and her knowledge of the world. Something Missing is a story about growing up, growing old, of love, lies and reconciliation.

To promote and publicize this latest novel, Julia has already contacted a long list of local and wider Melbourne media. Fingers crossed they all respond and accept the challenge. The Mentone Public Library is at 36 Florence Street, Mentone Vic Australia 3194. You can see the work Julia does for the community and the aims and focus of this library at the following internet sites. http://mentonepubliclibrary.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.mycommunitylife.com.au/Community/Mentone-Public-Library

Below is the flyer she has sent out for me.

MENTONE PUBLIC LIBRARY

PROUDLY PRESENTS

“AN AUTHOR FOR ALL SEASONS: SERIES SIX”

WITH AWARD-WINNING LOCAL AUTHOR:

Glenice Whitting

https://glenicewhitting.wordpress.com/

Glenice will be talking about the process involved in publishing Pickle to Pie (Ilura Press) and her latest novel, Something Missing by  MadeGlobal Publishing.com.

                       

MENTONE PUBLIC LIBRARY SPEAKING DATE:

Saturday, 26th November 2016

Entry:

Gold Coin Donation Welcome

Please RSVP by: Thursday, 24th November 2016

Bookings Required:

Phone: 03 9583-8494

Email: mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com

Mentone Public Library…Where Print Becomes Personable

With people like Julia, Mairi Neil and the Mordialloc Writers Group writing is no longer a solitary occupation. It is a shared experience with like minded people who care.

What do you think?

MadeGlobal Publishing have just sent me their design for the cover for my novel to be launched in December this year.

The story is about two countries (USA and Australia) two women, a life-altering pen-friendship and lies that lead to truth.

What do you think of the cover?

Would you want to buy this book?

Does the picture of Uluru make you think of ‘secret women’s business’?

I must say I think they have done a great job, but would appreciate any feedback.

I would also like to thank Mairi Neil, Mary Neil and Maureen Hannah for helping me in so many ways. Mairi is so supportive and encouraging and a fabulous writing buddy. Even though Mary Jane is not a book cover designer she created an amazingly artistic cover to carry me through until MadeGlobal produced their own design. Maureen is the best backstop I’ve ever had. They are all wonderful, talented women in their own right and I am so fortunate to have them on my side.

 

Rebecca Jane: Public Relations

Last Friday I met Rebecca Jane in a coffee shop in Lilydale Vic Australia.

 

We are going to work with MadeGlobal Publishing to plan how we are going to market my latest novel, ‘Something Missing’.

Rebecca is studying at Swinburne University for her Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Creative Writing and Literature. Her minor is in Film and Television. At the moment, we are simply discussing how best to market my latest book.

The book launch is only 10 weeks away and there is so much to do.

Wendy Dunn and Swinburne University have kindly arranged to launch my latest novel, ‘Something Missing’ at 3pm Sunday 11th December at Swinburne University at Hawthorn. . We still have to decide on the final book cover but Mary Jane Neil designed this one for me and I’ve passed it on to the publisher. I feel it captures a story about two countries,two women, a life altering pen-friendship and the lies they tell each other.

This is a free event, but to ascertain numbers for catering please obtain your ticket for the launch via this link:  https://www.trybooking.com/230231

It is so good to see the book launch actually in print. It makes me feel it may all actually happen. How wonderful it will be to hold this book in my hands and know that it will be in hard copy as well as on Amazon.com as a kindle book.

Check out Rebecca’s interesting interview at Wendy Dunn’s website 

Live Streaming to a London Publisher’s Event

‘Meet the Authors’ event in London with MadeGlobal publishing.

Last Sunday I attended, via live streaming on my computer, MadeGlobal’s ‘Meet the Authors’ event. There was only one hitch…8 pm Saturday evening London time was 5 am Sunday morning in Australia. I know it’s supposed to be spring in Melbourne but I had to put on my ski socks to keep my feet warm. And I’d been to a fabulous family and friends party the night before and was definitely feeling jet-lagged.

When the alarm went off at 4 am, I jumped out of bed, grabbed a cup of coffee and turned on the computer not knowing how it was all going to work out. Before I could begin attempting to log onto the website the phone rang. I thought I was the only crazy person up at that ungodly hour. It was pre-dawn black outside my window. My eldest son explained that he’d overheard me talking at the party the night before and thought I might need a hand. Bless him. After I happily invited him to Team View, he took over my computer and after logging me in had me successfully live streaming to London.

I felt as if I was in the room and was delighted to put faces to names I had only seen at the MadeGlobal website.

This event saw nineteen of MadeGlobal Publishing’s authors come together in London for an evening which included book launches, book signings, panel discussions on historical topics, live Tudor music and a chance to talk to MadeGlobal’s CEO Tim Ridgway, Claire Ridgway and Melaine V Taylor.

Hundreds of history fans, authors and fans of their published books joined the event. However,  authors from such distance countries such as Australia (Wendy, Dunn etc) and America and those that couldn’t make it from Ireland and England could still be part of it all via the private online streaming.

Nothing ever goes smoothly and this event was no exception. Just before the final panel discussion featuring Claire Ridgway, the live streaming stopped (we can now view that section of the night via a video). However, this event was definitely worth the 4 am leap out of my cosy bed. I enjoyed every minute.

A Writers’ Journey To Publication

Dreams do come true

I’m so excited. The manuscript of my novel, ‘Something Missing’ has been accepted for publication by MadeGlobal Publishing and I’m over the moon. I feel like a child on Christmas morning unwrapping something I’ve wanted for ages.  Imagine the pleasure in reading these words from Tim Ridgway,  ‘I’m attaching the contract. Can you sign and send back to…?’ Fantastic.

It all came about because my dear friend, Wendy Dunn, author of Falling Pomegranate Seeds published by MadeGlobal suggested I send the  manuscript I’ve been working on for ages to them  just in case it was what they were looking for.  Apparently all the planets aligned  and here I am on this exciting journey.

Mary Jane Neil did an amazing job designing a cover for me when it isn’t even her field of expertise. She used several old envelopes with American stamps etc. I’ve sent it to MadeGlobal for their consideration, plus they asked for a couple of extra photos.

This story, about two women, a life-altering pen-friendship and the lies they tell, has been through many reincarnations before it was finally accepted by Tim Ridgway and Melanie V Taylor at MadeGlobal . This is a predominately a Tudor England site but they will soon be branching out into popular fiction. Tonight, in London, they have an inaugural, Meet the Authors night and for those of us who can’t go they have arranged for us to join in via live streaming. Below is their invitation to join them.

Meet MadeGlobal and Authors in London – online or in person
24 September event
(5am Sunday 25th Sept if you are live streaming  in Australia)

19 of our authors will be in London on Saturday 24 September, and you can meet them in person. You’ll need a ticket, so book soon!

Can’t get to London?

Don’t worry, you can join us online through a ticketed private streaming event where you can ask questions, and you’ll enjoy the whole event from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you are in the world!)

Register NOW!

8pm tonight, London time will be 5am here in Australia Sunday morning. Even though I’m never at my best at 5am and it’s the first time I’ve live streamed, I’ll hopefully be joining them. Fingers crossed I’m not too bleary eyed and please wish me luck that all goes to plan.

 

 

 

Wendy Dunn, Author and Friend: Falling Pomegranate Seeds

I have known Wendy Dunn for many years. Recently we both completed our doctorate at Swinburne University. Believe me, those study bonds run deep.

Women collaborate and support each other. There is no competition, no one-up-man-ship, just genuine friendship.

As soon as Wendy’s name is mentioned images flash through my mind of being in a warm loft of an old stone winery on a cold Melbourne winters day. Wind whistled through cracks but we were cozy. Best of all,  Wendy had arranged and found funding for this amazing venue for a workshop with author, Christine Balint. All this small group of writers had to do was sip mellow red wine and write, write, write. The result was an anthology titled Journeys.

She is my close friend  and a  talented author who is always honing her craft

This third Tudor book published by MadeGlobal Publishing is no exception. It is engaging, entertaining as well as being informative. Through her books, I have learnt how people of Tudor England lived, loved and survived. In an exciting and new way they opened a previously closed window on a section of English history I knew nothing about.

About Wendy

Wendy J. Dunn is an Australian writer who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of two Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, and The Light in the Labyrinth, is her first young adult novel.

While she continues to have a very close and spooky relationship with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the elder, serendipity of life now leaves her no longer wondering if she has been channeling Anne Boleyn and Sir Tom for years in her writing, but considering the possibility of ancestral memory. Her own family tree reveals the intriguing fact that her ancestors – possibly over three generations – had purchased land from both the Boleyn and Wyatt families to build up their own holdings. It seems very likely Wendy’s ancestors knew the Wyatts and Boleyns personally.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Wendy is married and the mother of three sons and one daughter–named after a certain Tudor queen, surprisingly, not Anne.

Gaining her Doctorate of Philosophy (Writing) from Swinburne University in 2014, Wendy tutors at Swinburne University in their Master of Arts (Writing) program.

For more information about Wendy J. Dunn, visit her website at www.wendyjdunn.com

 

An announcement from MadeGlobal website

Wendy Dunn – Hot new release

Posted by Tim Ridgway on August 25th, 2016 at 9:33 am

Falling Pomegranate Seeds: Wendy J. Dunn

Hot New Release

Wendy J. Dunn’s book “Falling Pomegranate Seeds” was launched on 20 August, and it’s already listed as number 3 in Amazon’s coveted “Hot New Releases in Tudor Historical Romance” category, just behind Philippa Gregory’s new book “Three Sisters Three Queens”. Well done Wendy!

If you’ve missed all the hype and news about this book, then it’s time to catch up – people are loving the way Wendy has told the story of Katherine of Aragon in her early life… this book is the first installment in a series and takes us up to Katherine preparing to leave Spain for England.

GET THE BOOK HERE at Amazon.com

All writers, whether published or not, need support, encouragement and inspiration. This connective network may be found in a writing group or being amongst like-minded friends who you know will support and care for you through thick and thin. I am so fortunate to have the MadeGlobal team, especially Tim Ridgway and Melaine V Taylor, a totally supportive family and great writing buddies who watch my back and point me in the right direction. Bless you all.

Acknowledging women artists,Winifred Knights and Clarice Beckett

‘The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray’.

This quote from Robert Burns’ poem “To a Mouse” certainly applies to me. I make plans, constantly, but so often life intervenes. However, I am back in the land of the living with my email address finally restored (after a week of tearing my hair out negotiating with #Telstra) and my book contract with MadeGlobal on the way. Fantastic!!!  I can’t wait to get ‘Something Missing’ up and running. No wonder this blog is a tad late. However, I tend to believe that it is better to be late than never.

The submissions editor at Madeglobal, while we could still email each other, sent me a link to the Winifred Knights exhibition at the  Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. After seeing the paintings online I immediately wanted to fly to London to experience this exhibition in all its glory. However, airfares to London are far too expensive for a brown rice writer in Australia. At least these works of art are available to everyone via the internet. Reading Winifred Knights’  biography instantly reminded me of Clarice Beckett. Both women artists died in their forties and both struggled for their art to be recognised within a male dominated society.

English born Winifred Knights and Australian, Clarice Beckett are two amazing artists. Their obvious talents as painters was often overlooked during their lifetime.

The overall patriarchal opinion of the period appears to have been that there had never been a great woman artist and there never would be because women had not the capacity to be alone (seen as the key to creative living and central to having an authentic inner life).

Both Knights and Beckett were continually put down by the critics and sold little during their all too brief lifetime.

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Winifred Margaret Knights (1899–1947) was a British painter. Amongst her most notable works are The Marriage at Cana produced for the British School at Rome, which is now in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and her winning Rome Scholarship entry The Deluge which is now held by Tate Britain. Winifred Knights’ style was much influenced by the Italian Quattrocento and she was one of several British artists who participated in a revival of religious imagery in the 1920s, while retaining some elements of a modernist style. (Wikipedia)

She was born  on the fifth of June 1899 in Streatham, London and died on the  seventh of February 1947 in London (aged 47)

Well known for her distinctive style of dress, Winifred Knights usually wore a stylised version of nineteenth century Italian peasant costume;  a loose ankle-length skirt, plain buttoned blouse, wide brimmed black hat and coral necklace and earrings. Several of Winifred Knights paintings include self-portraits. In The Marriage at Cana, she depicts herself wearing her distinctive outfit.

 

Clarice Majoribanks Beckett (1887 – 1935) was an Australian Tonalist painter whose works are featured in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia,National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia.(From Wikipedia)

She was born on the twenty-first of March 1887 in  Casterton, Victoria, Australia and died on the seventh of July 1935 at Sandringham, Victoria, Australia (aged 48)

Click here for Clarice Beckett’s biography. 

In 1914-16 she took lessons in drawing from Frederick McCubbin at the Melbourne Gallery School but then chose to study under Max Meldrum. Constantly encouraging, though often fiercely critical, Meldrum regarded Clarice as a very gifted artist. Clarice Beckett’s personal life remains something of an enigma; her dedication to her art, and her refusal of several marriage proposals pitted her against her family’s traditional view of a woman’s role in society.

She was twenty-seven years old when she finally attended art school; her father refused to allow her to set up a studio in the family home, where, as an unmarried woman, she remained all her life, and thus bore the full load of caring for her ill and ageing parents. Beckett’s bleak domestic life was compounded by the hostility of art critics, and at times, her own peers, who misunderstood her distinctive approach. Despite these circumstances Clarice Beckett was driven to be an artist, and each day at dawn and dusk she could be seen in the suburban streets around her home; most often on Beaumaris Beach, paintbrush in hand, absorbed in her painting. She managed to exhibit her work annually over a ten year period. Clarice exhibited usually with Max Meldrum’s other students, however, very few of her paintings were sold in her lifetime.

Nearly forty years after Beckett’s death, around two thousand of her artworks were discovered in a shed on a property in rural Victoria. Many of these paintings were rotted and torn, and unable to be identified or restored. Rosalind Hollinrake, who is a curator, former gallery owner, and Beckett’s biographer, helped salvage the artworks, and began to piece together the life and work of one of Australia’s most unique landscape artists.

Today Clarice Beckett’s posthumous reputation grows as her vision of modern urban and coastal Australia is acknowledged  by contemporary painters, with her works now held in over four of the country’s major public galleries. I saw an exhibition of her work at the McCallum Gallery , Langwarren Victoria. Amazingly evocative work. Loved it.

While painting the wild sea off Beaumaris during a big storm in 1935, Beckett developed pneumonia and died four days later in a hospital at Sandringham[5] She was buried in the Cheltenham Memorial Park. She was only 48 when she died, the year after her mother’s death.

Currently I live fifteen minutes away from where Clarice Beckett died. When my city bound train approaches Cheltenham Station I glance out the window and gaze at the neat rows of headstones of what I have always called the Cheltenham Cemetery. In future I will always wonder which headstone belongs to Clarice Beckett.

I am passionate about recording the stories of women. There are so many stories of amazing women yet to be told because,

 ‘Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes’. 

My second novel, ‘Something Missing’ is about two women in two countries (Australia and America). It’s based on my thirty-five year  pen-friendship with and older American poet from USA. In 1975 we met when camping in Outback Australia. It is a story for women and about women, growing up, growing old, of love, lies and reconciliation.

No emails, but I Can Still Blog

I am annoyed, frustrated and yes, angry.

Last Sunday, Telstra, without notifying me, deactivated the email address I’ve had for years. Five days later they are still trying to restore it.

At the time I was emailing MadeGlobal about my latest novel and clicked ‘send’. My email didn’t go.  A notice popped up, ‘Please type in username and password.’ I followed instructions. Twice. Nothing moved. Nothing was active. I desperately hit ‘send’ again, praying that the email I’d just completed would wing its way to MadeGlobal’s submissions editor.  The email didn’t go.  Again. It is then that I notice no emails are coming in.

My ipad skype calls. A friend in England says, ‘Are you alright? My email bounced.’ A Facebook message from America asks the same question. I am so touched that they care but also upset to think that they are worried about me. My fingers working overtime, I rang Telstra, A voice in India told me, ‘Your email account and address has been cancelled.’

To be a writer, or anyone these days for that matter, to have no email is a disaster. I rely on it, need it, want it restored…Right Now!!!

The submissions editor had given me a link to Dulwich Picture Gallery in London featuring the paintings by little known artist Winifred Knights. The exhibition reminded me of a study a fellow Swinburne University PhD-er is currently researching about an unrecognised Australian painter, Clarice Beckett.

Later today I’ll post a blog about these two amazing women.

What Happened at Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve, Victoria Australia

May we never forget what happened at Coranderrk Reserve. 

Winter in Victoria. Every Saturday at 5am, I still dream I will throw snow chains in the back of my car, grab my skis and head for Healsville and the the cross country skiing at Lake Mountain. I love driving through the tall mountain ash forest near wild dog creek, over the black spur into a pristine world of white. The air crisp and clear, the only sound the swish of my skis and the gentle plop of snow falling from trees.

On the way home I deliberately divert down piccaninny lane (piccaninny means an Australian indigenous child) and slowly climb to a fenced area surrounded by tall trees. Opening the gate I quietly stand by Barak’s grave and gaze over rolling green hills towards where Coranderrk once was a thriving community. In the past, Coranderrk was a government reserve for Australian Aborigines in the state of Victoria between 1863 and 1924, located 50km north-east of Melbourne..

S0mething in the sound of the wind in the grass and the gently sighing of trees keeps drawing me back time and time again to this place. There is a sense of longing I can’t explain. I always knew some facts but I didn’t fully understand what had happened here, so when I had the opportunity to see the play Coranderrk: We Will Show The Country based on actual transcripts from the  records of the 1881 Government Inquiry into self determination, I could not resist.

King William

William Barak (1824-1903), Aboriginal spokesman, variously called ‘King William, last chief of the Yarra Yarra tribe’ or ‘Beruk (white grub in gum tree) belonging to the Wurundjeri Willum horde whose country lay along the Yarra and Plenty Rivers’. This is from his official biography

With his Gippsland-born first wife Lizzie, he was among the first group of Goulburn Aboriginals who settled at Acheron in 1859, hoping to have the area reserved. After much official indecision Coranderrk, near Healesville, was gazetted and he settled there permanently in 1863, in a ‘neat little cottage and garden, most tidy and comfortable’. Barak worked for a small wage on the station farm and acquired a few horses. Further schooling and religious instruction were undertaken; he could read but not write. He was baptized, confirmed, and took a second wife Annie ‘of the Lower Murray’ (Lizzie died before 1863) in a publicized Presbyterian ceremony in 1865. The fate of his family was typical of the time; two infants died of gastro-enteritis, David and Annie of consumption. When he married Sarah (Kurnai) on 7 June 1890 he was the oldest man at Coranderrk and only full-blood survivor of his tribe.

Following the reservation of the land, Barak and the Kulin together with the first managers, John and Mary Green, enthusiastically embarked upon the task of making Coranderrk their new home. Their vision was to make the station fully self-supporting.

However,soon vested local interests began to agitate to move Barak and his people off this land, and so began a sustained, sophisticated campaign for justice, land rights and self-determination.  In collaboration with white supporters, the Kulin people used the legal and political system to force a Parliamentary Inquiry.

In the late 1870s when management of Aboriginal affairs came under vigorous public criticism Barak emerged as a respected spokesman. Until his death he was the acknowledged leader at Coranderrk and a liaison between officialdom and the native population.

His petitions and public appearances were important spurs to action, especially the government inquiry of 1881. Barak outlined a plan for autonomous communities under Coranderrk’s first manager, John Green:

‘give us this ground and let us manage here ourselves … and no one over us … we will show the country we can work it and make it pay and I know it will’.

Lisa Hill’s excellent review of the play and the book Coranderrk: We Will Show The Country from La Mama Courthouse Theatre Carlton Victoria Australia can be found at ANZlitlovers blog

Lisa says the play is unique because it’s based entirely on transcripts from the 19th century paper trail of an heroic struggle for Aboriginal self-determination.  Having been dispossessed of their ancestral lands by European settlement, a small band of survivors from the Kulin Nation petitioned the colonial government for a land grant to set up the Coranderrk Reserve.  There they created an award-winning farm and an impressive settlement.

The outcome of the Inquiry?

In the short term the inquiry marked a clear victory for the Corranderrk community, for they succeeded in publicly exposing and preventing the Board’s underhanded plans to close down Coranderrk. John Green was never reinstated as manager as they requested, but the despised Rev. Strickland was dismissed and living conditions improved. Finally in 1884, Chief Secretary Graham Berry ordered that Coranderrk should be permanently reserved as a ‘site for the use of Aborigines’. It was a short-lived victory, however. In 1886, the Victorian Government passed the infamous ‘Half-Cast’ Act, designed to push so-called ‘half-cast’ men and women off the reserves and facilitate their assimilation into the white population. The 1886 Act caused the breaking-up of families and separation of the younger, literate, generation from their Elders. As a direct result, Coranderrk was eventually closed in 1924.

Barak and the Coranderrk community’s fight for self determination should never be forgotten. Finally I am beginning to understand the sense of longing I feel when I stand on that high rolling hill in Healsville.

It’s a story every Victorian should know.

Many thanks to Jason and Karen Whitting for supplying the tickets and to Lisa Hill and Maureen Hanna for accompanying me. An excellent, thought provoking play, good company and plenty of strong coffee. What a great way to spend a Sunday in Melbourne

 

Sally Morgan: My Place and False Heritage

Some books go straight to your heart and inspire you to work harder, try harder.

Lisa Hill’s Reviews from Indigenous Literature Week at wordpress ANZ Litlovers 2016 | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog made me think about the book that gave me the confidence to embrace creative writing. It was Sally Morgan’s My Place;  the story of being part of an Aboriginal family who, due to the shame attached to being aboriginal in Australia, ensured that Sally grew up believing the family came from India.

My ancestry was German, but until I was in my twenties I believed our family came from Belgium. When my father  died I couldn’t sleep. Every night was spent sitting at my computer trying to recapture in words so many of the stories he had told me (after he turned eighty) about his life as the first child of German immigrants born in Australia. Stories I felt could be lost forever if I didn’t commit them to paper..now. But the fear was always there. Would I be a good enough writer? Would the family understand? Would anyone be offended? How truthful could I be?

It was then that I read My Place and it struck a chord.

If Sally Morgan could write in a down to earth manner the story of her aboriginal family life and denial of ancestry, well, so could I. With renewed confidence, and after many years, Pickle to Pie was finally born.

Synopsis of Sally Morgan’s My Place. This is a story of a young Aboriginal girl growing up to false heritage and not knowing where she is from. Recounts of several of Morgan’s family members are told. The story setting revolves around Morgan’s own hometown, Perth, Western Australia, and also Corunna Downs. Morgan has four siblings, two brothers and two sisters. She faces many challenges, such as fitting in at school, getting good marks for acceptance in University, and living life without her father.

Looking at the views and experiences of three generations of indigenous Australians, this autobiography unearths political and societal issues contained within Australia’s indigenous culture. Sally Morgan traveled to her grandmother’s birthplace, starting a search for information about her family. She uncovers that she is not white but aborigine–information that was kept a secret because of the stigma of society. This moving account is a classic of Australian literature that finally frees the tongues of the author’s mother and grandmother, allowing them to tell their own stories.

About The Author

Sally Morgan is an experienced author and photographer. She has written more than 250 titles for both children and adults. Her main interest is in the natural world and environmental issues, but she writes on all science and geography topics. A former teacher and chief examiner for A level biology, she is now a full time writer, When not writing, she helps out on her organic farm in Somerset.

Reviews from Indigenous Literature Week at ANZ Litlovers 2016 | ANZ LitLovers LitBlog