Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 12:19:26 +1300
From: Andy Williamson & Ruth DeSouza <andy-AT-wairua.co.nz>
Subject: RE: aboriginal australian literature


Kia ora

I'm a little disappointed that members of what I would expect to be a more
enlightened list make such a basic mistake as to assume that an author of
Maori descent writing in and of the experiences of Aotearoa/New Zealand
could in any way have any connection with the experiences of Australian
indigenous cultures. I wonder how an American would react to me proposing a
Mexican author as an example of their own North American experiences? Or
worse still, a British, French or Spanish author? Hmmm...

Having said that, please do read Patricia Grace, she is a wonderful,
powerful writer as are many in the thriving scene of New Zealand literature.
Sorry though, we're just NOT Australian. You cannot assume that there is a
shared experience of colonisation or, in fact, of anything.

Now to the original question, I would recommend Mudrooroo ('Wild Cat
Falling' through to novels such as 'Underground' and 'The promised land') as
a good place to start in my limited experience of Aboriginal writing (it is
not all that easy to obtain on this side of the Tasman and has to be
acquired on visits to the 'West Island').

Andy Williamson

-----Original Message-----
>Patricia Grace _Potiki_ (1995) and _Baby No-Eyes_ (1998) (but all of her
books
>are wonderful) Sally Morgan's _My Place_ is a little older but also
powerful
>autobiography. I'm not sure what she's written more recently.



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