AustLit

Author's note: My two role models in writing have been the African American writers Audre Lorde and bell hooks. So imagine how I felt when my friend Nicola Joseph from the then Coming Out Show on ABC Radio rang me to ask if I would like to talk to bell hooks about Black feminism in Australia and the United States. Like the singer Phoebe Snow, whose dulcet tones motivated me during the typing up of the manuscript of Auntie Rita, bell hooks was legendary and inspirational to me. Her powerful writing of compassion and perception and her sheer dedication and belief in the value of her work both in academia and the community were goals I strove for (p. 58).