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Her collection of short stories Foreign Soil won the 2013 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award,[3] the 2015 ABIA for Best Literary Fiction,[4] the 2015 Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction,[5] and was shortlisted for the 2015 Stella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:
- Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Picture Book Award for The Patchwork Bike (2019)[17]
- Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry (2017)[8]
- New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, NSW Multicultural Award for The Hate Race (2017)[18][19]
- Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration – Honour Book (2017)[20]
- Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction (2015)[5]
- Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) – Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year (2015)[4]
- Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year (2015)[1]
- Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship (2014)[21]
- Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize (2013)[1]
- Australia Council Grants (2013)[1]
Works[]
Clarke's works include:[1]
- When We Say Black Lives Matter (2020), a picture book illustrated by the author
- Meet Taj at the Lighthouse (2020), an early reader chapter book in the Aussie Kids book series.
- 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[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Maxine Beneba Clarke". Austlit. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Sullivan, Jane (3 May 2014). "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Sydney Morning Herald. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "2015 ABIA Winners". ABIA Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Indie Book Awards". Indie Book Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "Foreign Soil". Stella Prize. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "The Hate Race", Hachette Australia, 2016.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "The Patchwork Bike" at Readings.
- ^ "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Saturday Paper. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ "Toni Morrison: Melissa Lucashenko and Maxine Beneba Clarke reflect on late author's legacy", The Guardian, 8 August 2019.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Maxine Beneba Clarke: (author/organisation) | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ Beejay Silcox, "Racism in Australia: Maxine Beneba Clarke writes from experience", The Australian, 6 August 2016.
- ^ "The poison that eats away at your being", The Economist, 8 July 2017.
- ^ Maxine Beneba Clarke, "Here Comes the Fourth Culture", PowellsBooks.Blog, 3 January 2017.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Andrew Cattanach, "Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil, answers Ten Terrifying Questions", Booktopia, 30 April 2014.
- ^ "Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners — The Horn Book". www.hbook.com. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "2017 - NSW Multicultural Award: The winner, shortlists and judges' comments". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
- ^ "New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards" (PDF). SL Magazine. 8 (4): 35. Summer 2015–2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship". Writers Victoria. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
- ^ Melissa Phillips, "Wide collection of voices challenges stereotype of African Australians", The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 2019.
External links[]
- Maxine Beneba Clarke on Twitter
- "The Stella Interview: Maxine Beneba Clarke", 16 March 2015.
- Beejay Silcox, "Racism in Australia: Maxine Beneba Clarke writes from experience", The Australian, 6 August 2016.
- Australian writers
- 1979 births
- Living people
- Australian Book Review people