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'The story of Australia's resistance hero, Pemulwuy, who kept British settlement around Sydney restricted for 12 years 1790-1802.' (Source: GoodReads website)
Notes
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Dedication: The British landed at the bay of Kamay on the east coast of Australia in 1788. Governor King is credited with breaking the Australian resistance in 1805. This novel is dedicated to those first Australians who fought and gave their lives against an invader.
This novel is especially dedicated to two remarkable Australians. The first is Pemulwuy, the man who led the resistance between 1790 and 1802, and in whose blood the city of Sydney and, indeed, modern Australia were built. The second is Charles Nelson Perkins, whose spirit and determination are the essence of modern Australia's identity.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Also braille, sound recording and electronic source.
Works about this Work
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Conceptualising Irish-Aboriginal Writing
2021
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , vol. 36 no. 2 2021;'This article considers some of the reasons why Irish-Australian literature has not been a significant trajectory within Australian literary studies and what it might offer if it were. Since the colonial era, Irish difference has been both recalcitrant and assimilable but, in the wake of Federation in 1901, Australian literature was concerned with the production of a national tradition and Irishness served to differentiate Australianness from Britishness. This article is concerned, then, with retrieving Irish difference. It extends my longstanding interest in Indigenous Australian literatures by analysing the representation of Irish Australians in Indigenous Australian writing, particularly moments of solidarity between the Irish and Indigenous Australians. After looking briefly at representations of colonial relations between the Irish and Aboriginal Australians in Jack Davis’ 1979 play Kullark and Eric Willmot’s historical novel Pemulwuy (1989), this article offers a reading of a minor scene in Alexis Wright’s Miles Franklin Literary Award-winning novel Carpentaria, published in 2006, as a way of exploring such representations in the contemporary era. This article is not trying to generate a new category for the field of Australian literary studies. Rather, it follows a seam within the Australian literary tradition that imagines generative forms of allegiance that may complicate existing conceptions of the Australian literary field.'
Source: Abstract.
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Below the Line : A SF Novel of (Double) Invasion
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Futuristic Worlds in Australian Aboriginal Fiction 2017; (p. 97-119)'Even before the publication of Below the Line in 1991, Eric Willmot was a well-established Aboriginal writer, teacher and scholar who held important positions in higher education. 1 Willmot’s adult life is in stark contrast to his childhood, during which his family moved around Queensland and the Northern Territory. Willmot gave up his education after primary school and spent his teenage years as a drover and horse breaker, but a serious rodeo accident at the age of eighteen put an end to this career, and made Willmot return to schooling (Willmot, Australia n.p.). With degrees in mathematics and education, Willmot taught in New South Wales, Victoria and Papua New Guinea. He spent the 1970s and 1980s actively engaged in Aboriginal education and teacher training (Willmot, Australia n.p.), through a series of educational programmes for advancing Aboriginal education. In 1984 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to education and Aboriginal studies. Apart from being an educator and a scholar, Willmot is also an inventor and a holder of many patents. In 1981 he received the Australian Inventor of the Year Award as well as the Gold Medal Award for mechanical engineering at the International Exposition of New Technology in Geneva (Willmot, Dilemma n.p.). Before Below the Line , Willmot wrote the influential Bicentennial novel Pemulwuy: The Rainbow Warrior (1987), which received accolades from the press and launched Willmot’s lifelong project to promote the previously neglected Eora warrior Pemulwuy. 2 Willmot was such a prominent public figure in the 1980s that he was asked to deliver a Boyer Lecture in 1986. 3 This lecture, Australia: The Last Experiment , is as influential today as it was thirty years ago. However, in the year that saw the publication of Pemulwuy , Willmot’s Aboriginality was challenged in a letter sent by his mother and sister to Brisbane Sunday Mail (1 Nov. 1987), in which they stated that Willmot’s family had no Aboriginal ancestry. Willmot responded to the newspapers maintaining that he had some vague idea who sent the letter, and that his solicitors would inspect the issue. 4 However, this newspaper article had no damaging effect at all on Willmot’s career as an Aboriginal writer and educator. The reception of Pemulwuy has not changed, and Willmot has not been “ousted” from any subsequent publications discussing Aboriginal writing. For instance, Penny Van Toorn’s contribution in The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature (2000) mentions Willmot’s Pemulwuy as an important Aboriginal Bicentenary novel (39), while her subheading “Contested identities” lists the usual 1990s literary hoaxes without implicating Willmot. Likewise, Anita Heiss’ influential study Dhuuluu-Yala (2003) lists both Pemulwuy and Below the Line as Aboriginal works (228 and 232, respectively). Willmot is also included in the 2008 Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature , edited by Anita Heiss and Peter Minter.' (Introduction)
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Critical Whiteness and Australian Aboriginal Novels
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Oceanic Literary Studies , no. 2 2015; (p. 14-31) 'Since the 1990s, Critical Whiteness Studies has become established as an interdisciplinary field. Centering round the critique of whiteness as a socially constructed ideology, it has led race studies into a new historical stage. It encompasses multiple fields in humanities and social sciences, while furnishing new perspectives for literary studies. Drawing in the theories of Critical Whiteness Studies, this paper focuses on the analyses of two historical novels by the Aboriginal writers in Australia, Eric Wilmott's Pemulwuy and Kim Scott's Benang : From the Heart. Resorting to distinct discursive strategies, the two novels have attempted to render whiteness visible and subvert the hegemonic historical narrative constructed by the colonizers. In the meantime, the novels have aired the collective appeals of the Aboriginal people and reconstructed from the Aboriginal perspective the Australian history disrupted by the colonial invasion.. (14-15) -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 259-261)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel -
Pemulwuy : Eora Patriot and First Australian Hero
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal Heroes of the Resistance: Pemulwuy to Mabo 1999; (p. 12-13)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel
-
Pemulwuy : Eora Patriot and First Australian Hero
1999
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal Heroes of the Resistance: Pemulwuy to Mabo 1999; (p. 12-13)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , vol. 34 no. 2010; (p. 259-261)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel -
Australia - Visions and Revisions
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 7 November 1987; (p. B4)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel -
Black Hero Stalks the Opera House
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 17 October 1987; (p. 47)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel -
Reminder From the Past
1987
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian Magazine , 14-15 November 1987; (p. 16)
— Review of Pemulwuy : The Rainbow Warrior 1987 single work novel -
Sociological and Historical Perspectives on Australia as Portrayed by Contemporary Australian Writers
1995-1996
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Commonwealth Review , vol. 7 no. 1 1995-1996; (p. 19-27) -
A Short History of Aboriginal Writing
1990
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Independent Monthly , August vol. 2 no. 2 1990; (p. 36-38) -
In Your Head You Are not Defeated : The Irish in Aboriginal Literature
1991
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Journal of Commonwealth Literature , vol. 26 no. 1 1991; (p. 33-48) Commonwealth Novel in English , vol. 7 & 8 no. 1997-1998; (p. 212-229) -
Critical Whiteness and Australian Aboriginal Novels
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Oceanic Literary Studies , no. 2 2015; (p. 14-31) 'Since the 1990s, Critical Whiteness Studies has become established as an interdisciplinary field. Centering round the critique of whiteness as a socially constructed ideology, it has led race studies into a new historical stage. It encompasses multiple fields in humanities and social sciences, while furnishing new perspectives for literary studies. Drawing in the theories of Critical Whiteness Studies, this paper focuses on the analyses of two historical novels by the Aboriginal writers in Australia, Eric Wilmott's Pemulwuy and Kim Scott's Benang : From the Heart. Resorting to distinct discursive strategies, the two novels have attempted to render whiteness visible and subvert the hegemonic historical narrative constructed by the colonizers. In the meantime, the novels have aired the collective appeals of the Aboriginal people and reconstructed from the Aboriginal perspective the Australian history disrupted by the colonial invasion.. (14-15) -
Below the Line : A SF Novel of (Double) Invasion
2017
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Futuristic Worlds in Australian Aboriginal Fiction 2017; (p. 97-119)'Even before the publication of Below the Line in 1991, Eric Willmot was a well-established Aboriginal writer, teacher and scholar who held important positions in higher education. 1 Willmot’s adult life is in stark contrast to his childhood, during which his family moved around Queensland and the Northern Territory. Willmot gave up his education after primary school and spent his teenage years as a drover and horse breaker, but a serious rodeo accident at the age of eighteen put an end to this career, and made Willmot return to schooling (Willmot, Australia n.p.). With degrees in mathematics and education, Willmot taught in New South Wales, Victoria and Papua New Guinea. He spent the 1970s and 1980s actively engaged in Aboriginal education and teacher training (Willmot, Australia n.p.), through a series of educational programmes for advancing Aboriginal education. In 1984 he was awarded the Order of Australia for his services to education and Aboriginal studies. Apart from being an educator and a scholar, Willmot is also an inventor and a holder of many patents. In 1981 he received the Australian Inventor of the Year Award as well as the Gold Medal Award for mechanical engineering at the International Exposition of New Technology in Geneva (Willmot, Dilemma n.p.). Before Below the Line , Willmot wrote the influential Bicentennial novel Pemulwuy: The Rainbow Warrior (1987), which received accolades from the press and launched Willmot’s lifelong project to promote the previously neglected Eora warrior Pemulwuy. 2 Willmot was such a prominent public figure in the 1980s that he was asked to deliver a Boyer Lecture in 1986. 3 This lecture, Australia: The Last Experiment , is as influential today as it was thirty years ago. However, in the year that saw the publication of Pemulwuy , Willmot’s Aboriginality was challenged in a letter sent by his mother and sister to Brisbane Sunday Mail (1 Nov. 1987), in which they stated that Willmot’s family had no Aboriginal ancestry. Willmot responded to the newspapers maintaining that he had some vague idea who sent the letter, and that his solicitors would inspect the issue. 4 However, this newspaper article had no damaging effect at all on Willmot’s career as an Aboriginal writer and educator. The reception of Pemulwuy has not changed, and Willmot has not been “ousted” from any subsequent publications discussing Aboriginal writing. For instance, Penny Van Toorn’s contribution in The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature (2000) mentions Willmot’s Pemulwuy as an important Aboriginal Bicentenary novel (39), while her subheading “Contested identities” lists the usual 1990s literary hoaxes without implicating Willmot. Likewise, Anita Heiss’ influential study Dhuuluu-Yala (2003) lists both Pemulwuy and Below the Line as Aboriginal works (228 and 232, respectively). Willmot is also included in the 2008 Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature , edited by Anita Heiss and Peter Minter.' (Introduction)
- Sydney, New South Wales,
- Bush,
- ca. 1756-1809