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Nardi Simpson Nardi Simpson i(13834965 works by)
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Yuwaalaraay ; Aboriginal Gumilaroi
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Works By

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1 Gifts across Space and Time : Journeying Together in Speak/listen Trade Nardi Simpson , 2021 single work essay
— Appears in: Griffith Review , January no. 71 2021;

'YAAMA MALIYAA! RESPECTS, friend, to the lands we are both on. I can hear birds talking to each other, and the newly arrived sunshine is beginning to bless the mornings. It is healthy and in full bloom. May your place continue to sing also, and we sustain its song. My regards to your grandmother, I hope she is well. My baagii is in Warrambool, my nanna and her sister both in heaven, but I know they are watching and are keen that I should make a good account of myself and, in turn, of them. Now, to business.' (Introduction)

1 [Extract] Song of the Crocodile Nardi Simpson , 2020 extract novel (Song of the Crocodile)
— Appears in: Westerly , July vol. 65 no. 1 2020; (p. 12-15)
1 6 y separately published work icon Song of the Crocodile Nardi Simpson , Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2020 19679450 2020 single work novel

'Darnmoor, The Gateway to Happiness. The sign taunts a fool into feeling some sense of achievement, some kind of end- that you have reached a destination in the very least. Yet the sign states clearly, Darnmoor is the gateway, and merely a measure, the mark, a point on a road you begin to move closer to a place you might really want to be.

'Darnmoor is the home of the Billymil family, three generations who have lived in this 'gateway town'. Race relations between Indigenous and settler families are fraught, though the rigid status quo is upheld through threats and soft power rather than the overt violence of yesteryear.

'As progress marches inexorably onward, Darnmoor and its surrounds undergo rapid social and environmental changes, but as some things change, some stay exactly the same. Our protagonist characters are watched (and sometimes visited) by ancestral spirits and spirits of the recently deceased, who look out for their descendants and attempt to help them on the right path.

'When the town's secrets start to be uncovered the town will be rocked by a violent act that forever shatters a century of silence.

'Full of music, Gamillaray language and exquisite description, Song of The Crocodile is a lament to choice and change, and the unyielding land that sustains us all, if we can but listen to it.' (Publication summary)

1 2 Black Drop Effect Nardi Simpson , 2020 single work drama

'Hold your index finger and thumb close together against a bright background, then bring them together. They seem to touch before they actually do. That, in its simplest form, is the Black Drop Effect.

'It’s also a new play by Yuwaalaraay woman Nardi Simpson; storyteller, performer, and songwriter with Stiff Gins. Black Drop Effect is an immersive, multi-layered exploration of black and white, generational conflict, and the ongoing effects of colonisation.

'Binno is an Aboriginal elder and erstwhile member of a community dance group who is asked to present a series of traditional dances, alongside an actor reading extracts from Captain Cook’s diaries, for a 26 January celebration.

'Binno is unsure, until his straight-talking sister Beenie convinces him to teach the dances to three young men seeking connections with culture, country and their place in the world. As they learn the dances and understand their meanings, a bigger plan emerges.

'Produced by Bankstown Arts Centre, and directed by Felix Cross, Black Drop Effect is an immersive, multi-layered experience that draws audiences into the contested space of ideas and emotions inspired by the 250 years of Australia’s colonial history.' (Production summary)

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