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'Joy Williams - Janaka Wiradjuri - was a difficult personality, and she made herself so. This book explains how and why she, and so many other people like her never had a chance.
Moving from Joy's untimely death in a Primbee flat, to the ten years she spent pursuing a negligence claim against the NSW Government, through two lost appeals and on to the beginning of her life, Read takes us on a mesmerising and evocative journey that offers a rare historical insight into institutions, street life and indigenous and urban culture between 1942 and 2006.
Written in a poignant new biographical style of writing, Read uses direct speech to dramatise the work - often employing Joy's own words and incorporating many of her poems throughout the novel to confront the reader with a dynamic depth of narrative.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Epigraph: It's not fair. If I start crying I'll never stop. I never will. Sometimes I'm so frightened of dropping a cup. Or tripping on a feather. Because if I trip I can't [get up], I can't do it. And they're not going to take me out of the world like that. Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams, 2003
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Epigraph: IF ONLY If only I had the courage to Trip over a white cockatoo feather! Listen, sisters, I would fly with rage and Let loose all the anger and Hate - For being - ME! Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams, 1996
Contents
- A Cup of Milki"'Please, Mum, may I have", single work poetry (p. 70-71)
- The Joy I Knewi"We talked that morning, as we often did", single work poetry (p. 142-144)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Tripping over Feathers
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 8 no. 3 2011; (p. 210-212)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 235-237)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , June vol. 41 no. 2 2010; (p. 247-248)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Two Special Lives Celebrated
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 24 March no. 472 2010; (p. 42) 'An audience of well-wishers and colleagues attended the recent Sydney launch of two major works celebrating the lives of Gordon Briscoe and Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams.' Source: Koori Mail no. 472, 24 March 2010 -
No Chance
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 318 2010; (p. 36)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography
-
No Chance
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , February no. 318 2010; (p. 36)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Tripping Over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher , November vol. 89 no. 4 2009; (p. 41)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Historical Studies , June vol. 41 no. 2 2010; (p. 247-248)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 235-237)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Tripping over Feathers
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 8 no. 3 2011; (p. 210-212)
— Review of Tripping over Feathers : Scenes in the Life of Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams : A Narrative of the Stolen Generations 2009 single work biography -
Two Special Lives Celebrated
2010
single work
column
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 24 March no. 472 2010; (p. 42) 'An audience of well-wishers and colleagues attended the recent Sydney launch of two major works celebrating the lives of Gordon Briscoe and Joy Janaka Wiradjuri Williams.' Source: Koori Mail no. 472, 24 March 2010
- New South Wales,
- 1900-1999
- 2000-2006