Nganajungu Yagu
Melbourne
:
Cordite Press
,
2019
16924590
2019
selected work
poetry
'Forty years ago, letters, words and feelings flowed between a teenage daughter and her mother. Letters writen by that teenage daughter – me – handed around family back home, disappeared. Yet letters from that mother to her teenage daughter – me – remained protected in my red life-journey suitcase. I carried them across time and landscapes as a mother would carry her baby in a thaga.
'In 1978–79, I was living in an Aboriginal girls’ hostel in the Bentley suburb of Perth, attending senior high school. Mum and I sent handwritten letters to each other. I was a small-town teenager stepping outside of all things I had ever known. Mum remained in the only world she had ever known.
'Nganajungu Yagu was inspired by Mother’s letters, her life and the love she instilled in me for my people and my culture. A substantial part of that culture is language, and I missed out on so much language interaction having moved away. I talk with my ancestors’ language – Badimaya and Wajarri – to honour ancestors, language centres, language workers and those Yamaji who have been and remain generous in passing on cultural knowledge.
'–Charmain Papertalk Green' (Publication summary)
False Claims of Colonial Thieves
Broome
:
Magabala Books
,
2018
12947060
2018
selected work
poetry
'From well-known poets Charmaine Papertalk Green and John Kinsella comes a tete-a-tete that is powerful, thought provoking, challenging and unapologetic. Papertalk Green and Kinsella call into question what we think we know about our country, colonisation, land and identity. Each poem is part of a striking conversation that surrounds topics such as childhood, history, life, love, mining, death, respect and cultural diversity. This extraordinary publication weaves two differing lives and experiences together and rarely pauses for breath. Papertalk Green and Kinsella’s words traverse this land and reflect back to us all, our identity and how we got here.' (Publication summary)
