Maxine Beneba Clarke

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent, [1][2] whose work includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Her collection of short stories Foreign Soil won the 2013 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award,[3] the 2015 ABIA for Best Literary Fiction,[4] the 2015 Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction,[5] and was shortlisted for the 2015 Stella Prize.[6] Her memoir The Hate Race (2016) won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award,[7] and her poetry collection Carrying The World won the 2017 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.[8] Her picture book The Patchwork Bike (2016), illustrated by Melbourne artist Van Thanh Rudd, won the Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration.[9] Clarke is a contributor to The Saturday Paper,[10] and is included in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[11]

Biography

Maxine Beneba Clarke was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Kellyville.[12] Her mother was an actress of Guyanese heritage and her father an academic of Jamaican descent, who migrated to Australia from England in 1976.[13][14][12] She has said: "Cousins, aunts, and uncles of mine have settled all over the world: including in Germany, America, Switzerland, Australia, England, and Barbados. Mine is a complex migration history that spans four continents and many hundreds of years: a history that involves loss of land, loss of agency, loss of language, and loss, transformation, and reclamation of culture."[15]

Beneba Clarke attended school in Kellyville and Baulkham Hills,[16] before going on to earn a Bachelor of Creative Arts and Law degree[1] from the University of Wollongong.[3] She moved to Melbourne.[16]

Recognition

Clarke has received several writing awards and fellowships, including:

Works

Clarke's works include:[1]

  • The Saturday Portraits (2019), a collection of interviews published in The Saturday Paper
  • Fashionista (2019), a picture book illustrated by the author
  • Wide Big World (2018), a picture book illustrated by Isobel Knowles
  • The Hate Race (2016), an autobiography
  • Carrying The World (2016), a collection of poetry
  • The Patchwork Bike (2016), a picture book illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd
  • Foreign Soil (2014), a collection of short stories
  • Nothing Here Needs Fixing (2013), a collection of poetry
  • Gil Scott Heron is on Parole (2008), a collection of poetry

As editor

  • Growing Up African in Australia (Black Inc., 2019)[22]
  • The Best Australian Stories 2017 (Black Inc., 2017)

References
  1. "Maxine Beneba Clarke". Austlit. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  2. "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  3. Sullivan, Jane (3 May 2014). "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Sydney Morning Herald. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  4. "2015 ABIA Winners". ABIA Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  5. "Indie Book Awards". Indie Book Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  6. "Foreign Soil". Stella Prize. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  7. "The Hate Race", Hachette Australia, 2016.
  8. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. "The Patchwork Bike" at Readings.
  10. "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Saturday Paper. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  11. "Toni Morrison: Melissa Lucashenko and Maxine Beneba Clarke reflect on late author's legacy", The Guardian, 8 August 2019.
  12. "Maxine Beneba Clarke: (author/organisation) | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  13. Beejay Silcox, "Racism in Australia: Maxine Beneba Clarke writes from experience", The Australian, 6 August 2016.
  14. "The poison that eats away at your being", The Economist, 8 July 2017.
  15. Maxine Beneba Clarke, "Here Comes the Fourth Culture", PowellsBooks.Blog, 3 January 2017.
  16. Andrew Cattanach, "Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil, answers Ten Terrifying Questions", Booktopia, 30 April 2014.
  17. "Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners — The Horn Book". www.hbook.com. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  18. "2017 - NSW Multicultural Award: The winner, shortlists and judges' comments". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  19. "New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards" (PDF). SL Magazine. 8 (4): 35. Summer 2015–2016.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  20. Morris, Linda (18 August 2017). "Children's Book Council of Australia reveal the best books of 2017". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  21. "Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship". Writers Victoria. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  22. Melissa Phillips, "Wide collection of voices challenges stereotype of African Australians", The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 2019.
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