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y separately published work icon The Great Forgetting selected work   poetry  
  • Author:agent Geoff Page http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/page-geoff
Issue Details: First known date: 1996... 1996 The Great Forgetting
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

This is the forgotten story of Australia in the last 200 years, the story of the interaction of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. It is about brutality, arrogance, honest misunderstandings, occasional decencies and continuing unresolved problems. In this creative contribution towards national reconciliation, poet Geoff Page and artist Pooraraar combine their significant talents in an effort to end 'the great forgetting'. (Back cover).

Notes

  • Author's note: The poems and drawings printed here cover more than 200 years of Aboriginal-non-Aboriginal contact and are arranged chronologically according to the episodes depicted. The earliest poem deals with Cook sailing up the east coast of Australia in 1770; the latest portrays the difficulties of former opposition leader, Alexander Downer, in Central Australia in 1994...The poems tell their own stories and do not pretend to any special knowledge of Aboriginal culture.' (pp.vii-viii).
  • Illustrator's note: I wanted to do the illustrations because I thought that at last I had seen a belated effort on the part of white Australia to inform both the black and white people of this country in literature and pictures about the British effort to eradicate Aboriginal people in one of the most brutal episodes in the history of mankind on this earth. (p.ix).

Contents

* Contents derived from the Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,:Aboriginal Studies Press ,National Museum of Australia , 1996 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Justice Blackburn Sails with Cooki"The land was bare", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 3)
The Relatives (from Five for Henry Reynolds)i"The relatives with guns", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 5-7)
Colonial View (for Keith Looby)i"The grantees", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 9)
The Treatyi"Saturday, June 6, 1835.", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 11-13)
Monologues for '88 : 1 : Dispatch Ramornie 1841i"Having received from several sides", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 15)
The Long Agistment: Yulgilbar 1842i"We said that we had made war upon them", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 17-18)
Two Lettersi"Dear Father,", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 19-23)
Other Voicesi"Translating cries from languages", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 25-26)
The Phrenologisti"And now the patients are all gone,", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 27-29)
The Squatters' Thesaurusi"The frontier runs are cleared by language.", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 31)
Her Majesty's Queensland Native Police (for Bill Rosser)i"Across the conquest's", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 33-36)
The Swordi"Maryborough, 1860, February 3.", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 37-39)
Breast Platesi"Those breast plates", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 41-42)
The Touri"Once in 1868", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 43-45)
Toolbillibam and Ogilviei"Yulgilbar 1872", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 47-48)
J.B. Gribble, Missionaryi"How to see John Gribble now?", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 49-51)
The Extra Panel (Fred McCubbin `The Pioneer' 1904)i"Where does it fit in the holy triptych,", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 53-54)
The Opening of Parliament House 1927i"The speeches done, the crowd has thinned", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 55-57)
Sixpence (WA 1933)i"Dear little Sixpence", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 59-60)
A Classic Texti"Writing it up a century later", Geoff Page , single work poetry (p. 61-65)
VIEW ENTIRE CONTENTS ( works)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

The Great Forgetting : Twenty Years Later Geoff Page , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 75 no. 4 2016; (p. 8-12) 'I've been asked to reflect on how much (if at all) relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia have changed since the publication, 20 years ago, of 'The Great Forgetting', a collaborative book by the late Aboriginal artist Bevan Hayward (Pooraraar) (pronounced 'Poira') (1938-2004) and me. It was published by Aboriginal Studies Press and has just recently gone out of print.'
'Their Graves Are Green, They May Be Seen': Geoff Page’s 'Visible Histories' David Callahan , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 1 no. 2009; (p. 64-72) 'Geoff Page's most sustained approach to settler history as twinned achievement and failure appears in the triptych: Invisible Histories (1989), The Great Forgetting (1996) and Freehold (2005). In these mixed-genre texts Page writes obsessively from within the contemporary dispensation of the politics of regret, searching for registers and modes in which responsible witness may be carried out with respect to the foundational historical myths of the nation. The problem with foundation chronicles for the ancestors of people who invaded, murdered and appropriated the land of others can be referred to the current debate around the notions of "guilt" and "shame". Despite Page's collaboration with the Aboriginal artist Pooaraar in The Great Forgetting, and his ambition to bring differing stories into a useful confluence, the task of writing a healing history might be impossible for reasons that lie beyond the writer's strategies or good-will.' Source: David Callahan.
"They Couldn't Tell Us How to Farm Their Skin" : White Poems on Black Dispossession Geoff Page , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Interactions : Essays on the Literature and Culture of the Asia-Pacific Region 2000; (p. 171-183) Analyses poems by white Australian authors about dispossession of their land. In his survey of attitudes and poetic technique, Page examines nineteenth and twentieth century poems and finds a reversal of attitudes over time.
Collection of Poems Aims to End ' National Amnesia' 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 12 February no. 144 1997; (p. 27)
— Review of The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry A review of this collection of poems written by Geoff Page.
Works Look at History Todd Condie , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 12 February no. 144 1997; (p. 22)
— Review of Black Mary & Gunjies : Two Plays by Julie Janson Julie Janson , 1996 selected work drama ; The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry The launch of two books at the State Library in Sydney was attended by prominent Aboriginal activist, actors, writers, and a former ATSIC leader.
Works Look at History Todd Condie , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 12 February no. 144 1997; (p. 22)
— Review of Black Mary & Gunjies : Two Plays by Julie Janson Julie Janson , 1996 selected work drama ; The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry The launch of two books at the State Library in Sydney was attended by prominent Aboriginal activist, actors, writers, and a former ATSIC leader.
Collection of Poems Aims to End ' National Amnesia' 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 12 February no. 144 1997; (p. 27)
— Review of The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry A review of this collection of poems written by Geoff Page.
ACT Poet Who Gives Heft and Moment to Spare, Short Lines Peter Pierce , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 March 1997; (p. C11)
— Review of The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry ; The Secret Geoff Page , 1997 selected work poetry
Reclaiming the Past Jeri Kroll , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , April no. 189 1997; (p. 54)
— Review of The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry
Collective Amnesia? Craig Cormick , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Muse , April no. 160 1997; (p. 12)
— Review of The Great Forgetting Geoff Page , 1996 selected work poetry
'Their Graves Are Green, They May Be Seen': Geoff Page’s 'Visible Histories' David Callahan , 2009 single work criticism
— Appears in: Journal of the European Association for Studies on Australia , vol. 1 no. 2009; (p. 64-72) 'Geoff Page's most sustained approach to settler history as twinned achievement and failure appears in the triptych: Invisible Histories (1989), The Great Forgetting (1996) and Freehold (2005). In these mixed-genre texts Page writes obsessively from within the contemporary dispensation of the politics of regret, searching for registers and modes in which responsible witness may be carried out with respect to the foundational historical myths of the nation. The problem with foundation chronicles for the ancestors of people who invaded, murdered and appropriated the land of others can be referred to the current debate around the notions of "guilt" and "shame". Despite Page's collaboration with the Aboriginal artist Pooaraar in The Great Forgetting, and his ambition to bring differing stories into a useful confluence, the task of writing a healing history might be impossible for reasons that lie beyond the writer's strategies or good-will.' Source: David Callahan.
Change of Direction Craig Cormick , 1997 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 March 1997; (p. C11)
"They Couldn't Tell Us How to Farm Their Skin" : White Poems on Black Dispossession Geoff Page , 2000 single work criticism
— Appears in: Interactions : Essays on the Literature and Culture of the Asia-Pacific Region 2000; (p. 171-183) Analyses poems by white Australian authors about dispossession of their land. In his survey of attitudes and poetic technique, Page examines nineteenth and twentieth century poems and finds a reversal of attitudes over time.
The Great Forgetting : Twenty Years Later Geoff Page , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Summer vol. 75 no. 4 2016; (p. 8-12) 'I've been asked to reflect on how much (if at all) relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Australia have changed since the publication, 20 years ago, of 'The Great Forgetting', a collaborative book by the late Aboriginal artist Bevan Hayward (Pooraraar) (pronounced 'Poira') (1938-2004) and me. It was published by Aboriginal Studies Press and has just recently gone out of print.'
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Last amended 2 Dec 2015 14:50:09
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