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Kerry Reed-Gilbert (24 October 1956 – 13 July 2019) was an Australian poet, author, collector, editor, educator, a champion of Indigenous writers and an Aboriginal rights activist. She was a Wiradjuri woman.

Early life

Born on 24 October 1956 in central New South Wales[1] Reed-Gilbert was orphaned at three months old when her father Kevin Gilbert murdered her mother Gomah Gilbert (née Scott). Reed-Gilbert was raised by her father's sister who Reed-Gilbert called 'Mummy', and she became the youngest of eight children.

Reed-Gilbert is survived by her two daughters, Lesa and Melanie, her grandchildren Jirrima, Yarran, Tenisha, Kaylarnie and Yullara and her great-grandchildren.[2][3] Reed-Gilbert was a Wiradjuri woman[1] and her childhood memoirs are published in The Cherry Picker's Daughter: A childhood memoir.[4][5]

Career

Reed-Gilbert wrote poetry and prose and was actively involved in writers groups and publishing the work of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander[6] and Maori writers.[7] Reed-Gilbert was the inaugural Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN).[1][2] She was also a member of the Aboriginal Studies Press Advisory Committee.[1]

Works

Reed-Gilbert's poetry was translated into Dutch, French, Bengali and Korean.[1][2][8] Reed-Gilbert edited a number of anthologies of poetry and prose.[9]

• Reed-Gilbert, Kerry (1996), Black woman, black life, Wakefield Press, ISBN 978-1-86254-392-8
• Reed-Gilbert, Kerry, (editor.); KLaS, (issuing body.) (2018), A pocketful of leadership in First Nations Australia communities (Third ed.), KLaS, ISBN 978-0-9925598-1-6 {{citation}}: |author1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Bedford, Michelle; Delian, Lyndy; Dries, Jenny; Faulkner, Samantha; Fuller, Lisa; Graham, Joyce; Leane, Jeanine; Martiniello, Jennifer A. (Jennifer Avriel), 1949–; Miller, Elizabeth; Reed-Gilbert, Kerry; Seiver, Beverley; Weston, Richard, b. 1938; Us Mob Writing (2013), By close of business, Us Mob Writing, ISBN 978-0-9923136-0-9{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Blank, Anton, (editor.); Reed-Gilbert, Kerry, (editor.) (2013), Ora nui : special edition : a collection of Maori and Aboriginal literature (Special ed.), Anton Blank, ISBN 978-0-473-26137-5 {{citation}}: |author1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Reed-Gilbert, Kerry (2002), Talkin about country, Kuracca Communications, ISBN 978-0-9580588-0-3
• Reed-Gilbert, Kerry (2019), Cherry picker's daughter : a childhood memoir, WILD DINGO PRESS, ISBN 978-1-925893-09-0[5]
• Reed-Gilbert, Kerry (2018), 'The Little Town on the Railway Track', Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia, Black Inc, ISBN 9781863959810

Collecting

Reed-Gilbert collected Aboriginalia, a variety of prints, figurines, plates, ashtrays, badges, and velvet paintings of Aboriginal people or featuring Aboriginal motifs.[10] In 2016 this collection was acquired by AIATSIS.[11]

Awards

2003: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board fellowship for poetry and writing at Omi International Arts Center in New York.[1]

2006: ‘Outstanding Achievement in Poetry’ and ‘Poet of Merit’ Award from the International Society of Poets.[2][1]

Memorial

In 2020 the Kuracca Prize for Australian Literature was created by Overland literary journal in memory of Reed-Gilbert.[12][13]

References

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