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Claire G. Coleman Claire G. Coleman i(9648274 works by)
Born: Established: Perth, Western Australia, ;
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Noongar / Nyoongar / Nyoongah / Nyungar / Nyungah/Noonygar ; Aboriginal Wirlomin
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BiographyHistory

Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays and poetry while (mostly) traveling around the continent now called Australia in a ragged caravan towed by an ancient troopy (the car has earned 'vintage' status). Born in Perth, away from her ancestral country she has lived most of her life in Victoria and most of that in and around Melbourne.

During an extended circuit of the continent she wrote a novel, influenced by certain experiences gained on the road. She has since won a Black&Write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship for that novel, Terra Nullius, which was published in 2017.

In May 2020, it was announced that Coleman was one of the participants in Malthouse Theatre's Malcolm Robertson Writers Program, writing a play called Black Betty at the End of the World.

Sources include http://www.clairegcoleman.com/about.html, Book + Publishing.

Exhibitions

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

Awards for Works

Blame Ireland i "I blame Ireland", 2022 single work poetry
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 245 2022; (p. 92)
2020 shortlisted Queensland Poetry Festival Awards Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize
y separately published work icon Enclave Sydney : Hachette Australia , 2022 24397741 2022 single work novel

'These are troubling times. The world is a dangerous place,' the voice of the Chairman said. 'I can continue to assure you of this: within the Wall you are perfectly safe.'

'Christine could not sleep, she could not wake, she could not think. She stared, half-blind, at the cold screen of her smartphone. She was told the Agency was keeping them safe from the dangers outside, an outside world she would never see.

'She never imagined questioning what she was told, what she was allowed to know, what she was permitted to think. She never even thought there were questions to ask.

'The enclave was the only world she knew, the world outside was not safe. Staying or leaving was not a choice she had the power to make. But then Christine dared start thinking . . . and from that moment, danger was everywhere.

'In our turbulent times, Claire G. Coleman's Enclave is a powerful dystopian allegory that confronts the ugly realities of racism, homophobia, surveillance, greed and privilege and the self-destructive distortions that occur when we ignore our shared humanity.'  (Publication summary)

2023 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
y separately published work icon Lies, Damned Lies Lies, Damned Lies : A Personal Exploration of the Impact of Colonialism Ultimo : Ultimo Press , 2021 21618576 2021 single work autobiography

'"This is a difficult piece to write. It cuts closer to the bone than most of what I have written; closer to my bones, through my blood and flesh to the bones of truth and country; there is truth here, not disguised but in the open and that truth hurts."

'In Lies, Damned Lies acclaimed author Claire G. Coleman, a proud Noongar woman, takes the reader on a journey through the past, present and future of Australia, lensed through her own experience. Beautifully written, this literary work blends the personal with the political, offering readers an insight into the stark reality of the ongoing trauma of Australia’s violent colonisation.

'Colonisation in Australia is not over. Colonisation is a process, not an event – and the after-effects will continue while there are still people to remember it.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2022 winner Queensland Literary Awards Non-Fiction Book Award
Last amended 16 Sep 2021 12:11:09
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