Blackfulla Book Club

With Instagram’s iconic Blackfulla Book Club creators Merinda Dutton and and Teela Reid, we delve into two intricate and engaging books, Another Day in the Colony and Song of the Crocodile, with their talented authors Chelsea Watego and Nardi Simpson. 

Free – bookings essentials.

3.00pm—4.00pm @ The Wheeler Centre: Performance Space

Merinda Dutton is a Gumbaynggirr and Barkindji woman emerging writer, First Nations critic, and the co-founder of Blackfulla Bookclub, an online community for First Nations stories. In 2019 Dutton was recognised for her legal aid work with Aboriginal community and awarded the National Indigenous Legal Professional of the Year.

Teela Reid (she/her) is a proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman born and raised in Gilgandra western NSW. Teela is lawyer, activist and storyteller who is committed to eliminating systemic racism in our society. Currently, she is a Sydney-based solicitor with experience practicing in criminal and civil law. Previously, Teela was tipstaff to the Honourable Justice Lucy McCallum of the NSW Supreme Court. In 2021, Teela was named as a Future Shaper by Time Out Sydney for her public advocacy across a range of mediums. She was also awarded the 2020 UNSW Young Achiever for her contributions to the community, her advocacy as a working group leader on s 51(xxvi), the Race Power, in the Constitutional dialogue process that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart that culminated in the most historic calls for a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Australian Constitution and a Makarrata Commission to enable a process of Treaty and Truth-telling. Teela was also recognised for her work as a key thinker and leading advocate behind the Walama Court, a proposal to establish an Aboriginal sentencing court at the NSW District Court jurisdiction, in addition to her full-time job as a criminal defence lawyer at Legal Aid NSW.

Nardi Simpson (she/her) is a Yuwaalaraay storyteller from NSW’s north west freshwater plains. As a member of Indigenous duo Stiff Gins, Nardi has travelled nationally and internationally for the past 22 years. She is also a founding member of ‘Freshwater,’ an all-female vocal ensemble formed to revive the language and singing traditions of New South Wales river communities. Nardi is a graduate of Ngarra Burria First People’s Composers and is currently undertaking a PhD through ANU School of Music in Composition. Nardi is the current musical director of Barayagal, a cross cultural choir based at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and The Conservatorium’s and Ensemble Offspring’s First Nations artist in residence for 2021. Nardi’s debut novel ‘Song of the Crocodile’ was winner of the 2017 Black&Write! Fellowship, the 2021 ALS Gold Medal and 2021 QLD Literary Award Fiction Book of the Year. It was also longlisted for the 2021 Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Awards. Nardi currently lives in Sydney and continues to be heavily involved in the teaching and sharing of culture in both her Sydney and Yuwaalaraay communities. www.nardisimpson.com

Chelsea Watego (she/her) (formerly Bond) is a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman with over 20 years of experience working within Indigenous health as a health worker and researcher. Chelsea’s work has drawn attention to the role of race in the production of health inequalities. Her current ARC Discovery Grant seeks to build an Indigenist Health Humanities as a new field of research; one that is committed to the survival of Indigenous peoples locally and globally, and foregrounds Indigenous intellectual sovereignty. She is a prolific writer and public intellectual, having written for IndigenousX, NITV, The Guardian, and The Conversation. She is a founding board member of Inala Wangarra, an Indigenous community development association within her community, a Director of the Institute for Collaborative Race Research, and was one half of the Wild Black Women radio/podcast show, but most importantly, she is also a proud mum to five beautiful children.