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y separately published work icon Back on the Block : Bill Simon's Story single work   autobiography  
Note: Written by Bill Simon with Des Montgomerie and Jo Tuscano.
Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Back on the Block : Bill Simon's Story
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Stolen, beaten, deprived of his liberty and used as child labour, Bill Simon was locked up in the notorious Kinchela Boys Home for 8 years where he was told his mother didn't want him, and that he was 'the scum of the earth'. His experiences there would shape his life forever...

Bill Simon got angry, something which poisoned his life for the next 2 decades. A life of self-abuse and crime which finally saw him imprisoned.. From The Block in Sydney's Redfern, one of the most contentious and misunderstood places in Australia, Bill Simon tells the truth about life in one of Australia's most terrible juvenile institutions, where thousands of boys were warehoused and abused.' Source: Publisher's blurb

Exhibitions

8733014
8931289
15517603

Teaching Resources

Teaching Resources

This work has teaching resources.

Teachers' notes via publisher's website.

Notes

  • Dedication: For all members of the Stolen Generations who have passed away.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,: Aboriginal Studies Press , 2009 .
      image of person or book cover 907856463759975431.jpg
      Image courtesy of Publisher website
      Extent: vi-xiv,169p.p.
      Description: illus.
      Note/s:
      • Includes foreword by Professor Larissa Behrendt, Professor of Law and Director of Research, Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning, University of Technology, Sydney; and From the storyteller, Bill Simon and index p.162-169.
      • Publication date: May 2009.
      ISBN: 9780855757182 (eBook), 9780855756772 (pbk)

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Negotiating the “Drunken Aborigine”: Alcohol in Indigenous Autobiography Sam Dalgarno , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 42 no. 1 2018; (p. 51-64)

'This article approaches the question of how Aboriginal Australians describe their own experiences of drinking alcohol, sometimes to excess, and how they recover, through a reading of seven autobiographies alongside the scholarship on Aboriginal drinking. The evidence contained in these life stories stresses personal factors and adds to the picture we glean from the scholarship, whether academic or governmental, epidemiological, anthropological or historical, which explains Aboriginal drinking habits in more social terms. Thus, the autobiographies themselves make an important intervention into the scholarship on Aboriginal drinking. Beyond this, negotiating with the stereotype of the “drunken Aborigine” is unavoidable for Aboriginal people who write about their drinking and these autobiographies represent a challenge to this popular image. This article examines a previously unexamined discourse on Aboriginal drinking that goes some way towards undermining the public representation of a drunken Aboriginal culture while simultaneously giving individual Aboriginal Australians greater voice in describing their past and current experiences.' (Publication abstract)

Finding a Place 2009-2010 single work column
— Appears in: Indigenous Newslines , December - February 2009-2010; (p. 11)
Writing Back on the Block Joanne Tuscano , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , October/November no. 187 2009; (p. 4-5)
In Short : Nonfiction Bruce Elder , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 July 2009; (p. 35)

— Review of The Night My Bum Dropped Gretel Killeen , 2009 single work autobiography ; Back on the Block : Bill Simon's Story Bill Simon , Des Montgomerie , Joanne Tuscano , 2009 single work autobiography
From Pain to Peace : Stolen Generations Victim Tells His Story of Healing Mahala Strohfeldt , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 17 June no. 453 2009; (p. 60)
Surviving Institutional Abuse Andrena Jamieson , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Eureka Street , 5 June vol. 19 no. 10 2009;

— Review of Back on the Block : Bill Simon's Story Bill Simon , Des Montgomerie , Joanne Tuscano , 2009 single work autobiography
In Short : Nonfiction Bruce Elder , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25-26 July 2009; (p. 35)

— Review of The Night My Bum Dropped Gretel Killeen , 2009 single work autobiography ; Back on the Block : Bill Simon's Story Bill Simon , Des Montgomerie , Joanne Tuscano , 2009 single work autobiography
From Pain to Peace : Stolen Generations Victim Tells His Story of Healing Mahala Strohfeldt , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 17 June no. 453 2009; (p. 60)
Writing Back on the Block Joanne Tuscano , 2009 single work column
— Appears in: Newswrite : The NSW Writers' Centre Magazine , October/November no. 187 2009; (p. 4-5)
Finding a Place 2009-2010 single work column
— Appears in: Indigenous Newslines , December - February 2009-2010; (p. 11)
Negotiating the “Drunken Aborigine”: Alcohol in Indigenous Autobiography Sam Dalgarno , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of Australian Studies , vol. 42 no. 1 2018; (p. 51-64)

'This article approaches the question of how Aboriginal Australians describe their own experiences of drinking alcohol, sometimes to excess, and how they recover, through a reading of seven autobiographies alongside the scholarship on Aboriginal drinking. The evidence contained in these life stories stresses personal factors and adds to the picture we glean from the scholarship, whether academic or governmental, epidemiological, anthropological or historical, which explains Aboriginal drinking habits in more social terms. Thus, the autobiographies themselves make an important intervention into the scholarship on Aboriginal drinking. Beyond this, negotiating with the stereotype of the “drunken Aborigine” is unavoidable for Aboriginal people who write about their drinking and these autobiographies represent a challenge to this popular image. This article examines a previously unexamined discourse on Aboriginal drinking that goes some way towards undermining the public representation of a drunken Aboriginal culture while simultaneously giving individual Aboriginal Australians greater voice in describing their past and current experiences.' (Publication abstract)

Last amended 17 Sep 2019 12:01:59
Settings:
  • Waratah, Waratah - Shortland area, Newcastle, Newcastle - Hunter Valley area, New South Wales,
  • Redfern, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
  • New South Wales,
  • ca. 1950-2008
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