Wanda Koolmatrie
Wanda Koolmatrie
i(A29203 works by)
(a.k.a.
Leon Carmen)
Writing name for:
Leon Carmen
AustLit
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Most Referenced Works
Notes
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In the 'About the Author' note in the novel My Own Sweet Time, Wanda Koolmatrie is described as being 'born in the far north of South Australia in 1949. Removed from her Pitjantjatjara mother in 1950, she was raised by foster parents in the western suburbs of Adelaide, where she went to school.'
This ostensibly autobiographical work won the Nita May Dobbie Award for a first novel by a woman writer.
In March 1997, a controversy erupted when it was revealed that this autobiography was, in fact, the fictional creation of Leon Carmen and his literary agent John Bayley.
A full account of the hoax is given in Bayley's book, Daylight Corroboree : A First-Hand Account of the 'Wanda Koolmatrie' Hoax, and Carmen's own version in his article 'Wanda and Me.'
Awards for Works
-
y
My Own Sweet Time
Broome
:
Magabala Books
,
1994
Z49005
1994
single work
novel
Wanda, an Aboriginal girl makes it in the tough city counter culture of the mid-sixties and early seventies. Writing song lyrics and working odd jobs she travels between cities, passing a sardonic eye on the hippie culture around her.
- 1996 winner Kibble Literary Awards — Nita May Dobbie Award Nita May Dobbie Award prize money was later retrieved from the author after it was revealed that 'Wanda Koolmatrie' was a hoax perpetrated by Leon Carmen and his literary agent John Bayley.
Last amended 17 Feb 2022 12:39:41
