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Vivienne Cleven Vivienne Cleven i(A41479 works by)
Born: Established: 1968 Surat, Meandarra - Surat area, Darling Downs, Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Kamilaroi
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Works By

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1 From Bitin' Back (Chapter 7 : Make Him a Man) Vivienne Cleven , 2008 extract novel (Bitin' Back)
— Appears in: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature 2008; (p. 207-211)
1 Dyketopia Vivienne Cleven , 2007 single work column
— Appears in: Lesbians on the Loose , November vol. 18 no. 11 2007; (p. 28)
2 3 y separately published work icon Contemporary Indigenous Plays Windmill Baby, Rainbow's End, King Hit, Bitin' Back, Black Medea Larissa Behrendt (editor), Vivienne Cleven (editor), Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2007 Z1366759 2007 anthology drama (taught in 12 units)

'Five plays from around the country which illustrate that the rich tradition of indigenous storytelling is flourishing in contemporary Australian theatre.' (Source: Australianplays.org)

1 From Bitin' Back Vivienne Cleven , 2006 extract novel (Bitin' Back)
— Appears in: Manoa , 2006 vol. 18 no. 2 2006; (p. 131-140)

'Jean Arrives

'The boy is curled up in his bed like a skinny black question mark. Ain't like he got a lot of time to be layin bout. A woman gotta keep him on his toes. Thats me job; to keep the boy goin. Hard but, bein a single mother n all. Be all right if the boy had a father. Arhhh, a woman thinks a lot a shit, eh? A woman s thoughts get mighty womba sometimes!'   (Introduction)

1 3 Bitin' Back Vivienne Cleven , 2005 single work drama humour
— Appears in: Contemporary Indigenous Plays 2007; (p. [1]-53)

Adapted from Vivenne Cleven's award-winning novel Bitin Back.

1 1 Bitin' Back Vivienne Cleven , 2003 extract novel (Bitin' Back)
— Appears in: Fresh Cuttings : A Celebration of Fiction and Poetry From UQP's Black Writing Series 2003; (p. 3-23)
1 Her Sister's Eye Vivienne Cleven , 2003 extract novel (Her Sister's Eye)
— Appears in: Fresh Cuttings : A Celebration of Fiction and Poetry From UQP's Black Writing Series 2003; (p. 189-200) On the Edge : Thirty Modern Australian Short Stories 2005; (p. 196-204)
1 From : Bitin' Back Vivienne Cleven , 2002 extract novel (Bitin' Back)
— Appears in: Hot Iron Corrugated Sky : 100 Years of Queensland Writing 2002; (p. 174-176)
1 12 y separately published work icon Her Sister's Eye Vivienne Cleven , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2002 Z985143 2002 single work novel (taught in 7 units)

'...always remember where you're from... To the Aboriginal Families of Mundra this saying brings either comfort or pain. To Nana Vida it is what binds the generations. To the unwilling savant Archie Corella it portends a fate too cruel to name. For Sophie Salte, whose woman's body and child's mind make her easy prey, nothing matters while her sister Murilla is there to watch over her.

For Murilla, fierce protector and unlikely friend to Caroline Drysdale, wife of the town patriarch, what matters is survival. In a town with a history of vigilante raids, missing persons and unsolved murders, survival can be all that matters'. (Source: back cover, 2002 edition)

1 Writing Bitin' Back Vivienne Cleven , 2001 single work essay
— Appears in: Writing Queensland , May no. 96 2001; (p. 6-7)

"Bitin' Back tells the story of Mavis and Nevil, mother and son, from the morning when Nevil, footy player and all round guy, puts on a frock and tells his mother, 'Just call me Jean'. The Jean is Jean Rhys, author of the acclaimed novel The Wide Sargasso Sea. In this candid and exhilarating article, Vivienne Cleven talks about her work."

1 19 y separately published work icon Bitin' Back Just Call Me Jean Vivienne Cleven , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2001 Z669132 2001 single work novel (taught in 7 units) 'When the Blackout's star player Nevil Dooley wakes one morning to don a frock and 'eyeshada', his mother's idle days at the bingo hall are gone forever. Mystified and clueless, single parent Mavis takes bush-cunning and fast footwork to unravel the mystery behind this sudden change of face... Hilarity prevails while desperation builds in the race to save Nevil from the savage consequences of discovery in a town where a career in footy is a young black man's only escape. Neither pig shoots, bust-ups at the Two Dogs, bare-knuckle sessions in the shed or even a police siege can slow the countdown on this human time bomb.' (Source: Publisher's blurb)
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