Jeanine Leane

Itravel Country, like my Old People done. I see the Country, like my Old PeopledoneI burn Country, like my Old People done. I sing Country, like my Old Peopledone-- JacobMorris, Ban Maganindadjyang (My Old People Done) Guwayu, For All Times is acollection of First Nations poems commissioned by Red Room Poetry over the past16 years, and is a radical literary intervention for its breadth ofrepresentation, temporal depth and diversity of language. This fiercely uncensoredcollection features 61 poems from First Nations poets in 12 First Nationslanguages, and together they are an exquisite expression of living FirstNations culture. Journey through a range of poetic forms fromlyric, confessional, protest, narrative and song, showcasing new voices andestablished poets. Guwayu is edited by Wiradjuri poet, Dr Jeanine Leane, produced byRed Room Poetry, a leading arts organisation committed to making poetry inmeaningful ways, and published by Magabala Books, Australia's leadingIndigenous publisher. 'TheAustralian literary landscape needs this bold, brave intervention to wake it upfrom the 232-year slumber and the dream of the settler mythscape. Guwayubreaks the silence -- feel the beauty -- hear our words.' -- Dr Jeanine Leane Featuring: Ethan Bell, John Muk Muk Burke, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Claire G Coleman,Paul Collis, Joel Davison, Joel Deaves, Lionel Fogarty, Declan Furber Gillick,Stiff Gins, Daniel Hansen, Matthew Heffernan, Steve Dibirdi Hodder WassBunbajee, Yvette Holt, Gayle Kennedy, Jeanine Leane, Carissa Lee Godwin, LolaMcKickett, Jacob Morris, Lorna Munro, Melanie Mununggurr, Maureen O'Keefe,Bruce Pascoe, Nick Paton, Ryan Prehn, Celestine Rowe, Brenda Saunders, NicoleSmede, Lyndsay Urquhart, Sam Wagan Watson, Adrain Webster.

A Collection of First Nations Poems

Guwayu, for All Times

This superb collection moves from deeply tender meditations on Country, culture and kinship, to experimental archival poems dissecting the violence and destruction of the settler-colony. Jeanine Leane's poems are richly palpable in texture, imagery and language, layering the personal with the political, along with a sharp-tongued telling of history. Cleverly divided into three parts, 'Gathering', 'Nation' and 'Returning', Gawimarra weaves back and forth in a dedication to strong matriarchs, and the core acts of gathering and returning - memory, language, history - resonate powerfully throughout. A remarkable book that is the result of decades of poetic, political, and cultural work and reflection.

Gathering

Gawimarra

Winner of the 2010 David Unaipon Award for Indigenous Writing It fell from the sky and rose from the ground. Water from the hills met swollen river flats and turned wheat plains to swamplands. Big floods washed away the farmers' profits and losses in one giant tongue of brown water Growing up in the shifting landscape of Gundagai with her Nan and Aunties, Sunny spends her days playing on the hills near their farmhouse and her nights dozing by the fire, listening to the big women yarn about life over endless cups of tea. It is a life of freedom, protection, and love. But as Sunny grows she must face the challenge of being seen as different, and of having a mother whose visits are as unpredictable as the rain. Based of Jeanine Leane's own childhood, these funny, endearing, and thought-provoking stories offer a snapshot of a unique Australian upbringing.

Jeanine Leane

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