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'Snake Cradle is the first volume of Roberta Sykes's three volume autobiography, Snake Dreaming. Snake Cradle chronicles the early years of one of Australia's best known activists for Aboriginal rights, from the time of her birth in Townsville in the 1940s through to the birth of her son when she was 17, and the trial of the men who raped her.
Roberta's voice is strong and true as she describes far north Queensland of the time, her battles with a series of childhood illnesses, and her growing awareness that hers was not an ordinary Australian childhood. Born to a white mother and a father whose identity she did not know, her passion and commitment to the struggles of the Aboriginal people was shaped by the racism her dark skin invoked. A powerful and moving autobiography about a history that must never be forgotten.' (Allen and Unwin)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also sound recording.
Works about this Work
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Country and Lives : Australian Biography and Its History
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Cercles , no. 35 2015; 'There have been attempts to relate national characteristics “by reference to climate, habitat and soil and investing the collective subject with psychological attributes” for over two millennia. More recently historians of modern nationalism developed elaborate typologies often citing Martin Heidegger’s arguments that “the being of the human finds its essence in the being of place — the belonging together of being and topos” [MALPAS 2012 : 5-6]. And yet the challenge to the ontological connection between self and place, what Jeff Malpas describes as the “topological analysis of self and identity”, has a long philosophical tradition, too. This debate over experience, biography and nation has implications for historians who have raised empirical questions about the development of collective sensibilities over time among recent emigrant peoples, their physical peculiarities, behaviourial quirks and emergent national character. In this paper I consider the role that biography writing played in the construction of an Australian national identity geared to what Pierre Nora famously termed as the “roman national”, or the collective discourse on the history of the nation and its place in the world. I argue that Australian historians played a significant role in the history of biograpy writing and, related to it, the debate over collective Australian identity.' (Introduction) -
Teaching Contemporary Australian Autobiography
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Teaching Life Writing Texts 2007; (p. 208-213) -
Allegations, Secrets, and Silence : Perspectives on the Controversy of Roberta Sykes and the Snake Dreaming Series
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Disability Studies and Indigenous Studies 2003; (p. 108-123) -
From 'Black' Caesar to Mudrooroo : The African Diaspora in Australia
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Mongrel Signatures : Reflections on the Work of Mudrooroo 2003; (p. 25-41) -
Is She or Isn't She? : Roberta Sykes and 'Authentic' Aboriginality
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 171 2003; (p. 50-56)
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A Stolen Childhood
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 11-12 October 1997; (p. rev 31)
— Review of Snake Cradle 1997 single work autobiography -
The Written Life that Packs a Power Punch
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 26 October 1997; (p. 14)
— Review of Snake Cradle 1997 single work autobiography -
In Her Own Words
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 November 1997; (p. 8)
— Review of Snake Cradle 1997 single work autobiography -
Secrets and Shame
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 196 1997; (p. 33)
— Review of Snake Cradle 1997 single work autobiography -
An Evil Cradling
1997
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 December 1997; (p. 15)
— Review of Snake Cradle 1997 single work autobiography -
Is She or Isn't She? : Roberta Sykes and 'Authentic' Aboriginality
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 171 2003; (p. 50-56) -
From 'Black' Caesar to Mudrooroo : The African Diaspora in Australia
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Mongrel Signatures : Reflections on the Work of Mudrooroo 2003; (p. 25-41) -
Allegations, Secrets, and Silence : Perspectives on the Controversy of Roberta Sykes and the Snake Dreaming Series
2003
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Disability Studies and Indigenous Studies 2003; (p. 108-123) -
Teaching Contemporary Australian Autobiography
2007
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Teaching Life Writing Texts 2007; (p. 208-213) -
Aboriginal Author Has the Write Stuff to Win Age Literary Award
1997
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Age , 17 December 1997; (p. A3)
Awards
- 1998 winner Kibble Literary Awards — Nita Kibble Literary Award
- 1998 winner National Biography Award
- 1998 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction
- 1997 winner The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards — FAW Christina Stead Award
- 1997 winner The Age Book of the Year Award — Book of the Year
- 1940s
- 1950s
- 1960s
- Townsville, Townsville area, Marlborough - Mackay - Townsville area, Queensland,
- Brisbane, Queensland,
- ca. 1940-1970