The Cherry Picker's Daughter - Softcover

Kerry Reed-Gilbert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 192589309X ISBN 13: 9781925893090

Publisher: Wild Dingo Press, 2019

Synopsis

This is the story of Kerry Reed-Gilbert, daughter of Kevin Gilbert, famous Aboriginal activist, writer, painter and actor. Told in the child’s voice and in the vernacular of her Mob, she speaks of love and loss, of dispossession and repeated dislocation. Kerry’s account highlights the impact of life as an Aboriginal state ward living under the terror of the Protection Laws. Despite this, she paints a picture of hard work and determination, with family unity giving them the strength and dignity to continue. Her father’s sister, whom she always called ‘Mummy’, raised his two children along with hers and others within the extended family. The book is a tribute to this truly remarkable woman: their tower of strength, love and selflessness.

About this title

About the Author

Wiradjuri woman from Central New South Wales, Aunty Kerry Reed-Gilbert has performed and conducted writing workshops nationally and internationally. She was the inaugural Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) 2012-2015 & 2017-2018 and continues today as Patron. In 2013 she co-edited a collection of works By Close of Business. She is a member of the ACT Us Mob Writing (UMW) group and was FNAWN co-editor for the Ora Nui Journal collaboration between First Nations Australia writers and Maori writers. 2015 saw Kerry short listed for the Story Wine Prize. In 2016 and 2017 she compiled and edited editions of A Pocketful of Leadership in the ACT 2016 and A Pocketful of Leadership in First Nations Australia Communities, a collection of First Nations voices from across Australia. Kerry is a former member of the Aboriginal Studies Press Advisory Committee and her poetry and prose have been published in many journals and anthologies nationally and internationally, including in the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. Her works have been translated in French, Korean, Bengali, Dutch and other non-English speaking languages.

Review

A wonderful yarn by an Aboriginal Elder about a bygone way of life.
-- Melissa Lucashenko, award-winning Goorie author, 2019 Miles Franklin award winner

Australia has waited too long to read this book of courage and truth. It heralds a timely change in our thinking on
Aboriginal activism.
-- Jeanine Leane, Wiradjuri writer and academic

The Cherry Picker's Daughter: a childhood memoir brings alive a true story of a blended Koori family in New South Wales in the 1950s through the eyes of a young daughter, the author. A hardworking Koori family, 'river people', building bridges across rivers, love, towns, racism, truths and intergenerational trauma. The family's survival shaped by seasonal fruit-picking and a constant fear of the 'the welfare's' power to remove the children.
-- Charmaine Papertalk Green, poet, writer and artist

Thank you, Kerry, for sharing your story--so much pain and hurt, but such life-affirming strength and love too.
-- Kate Grenville AO, award-winning author

Edition details

• Publisher: Wild Dingo Press
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 192589309X
• ISBN 13: 9781925893090
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240