Blak and Bright

Four fabulous Blak women with extraordinary lives; Aunty Ronnie Gorrie, Chelsea Watego, Nardi Simpson and moderated by Sonia Cooper. How do they juggle writing lives and busy lives? They have some stories to tell … 

Free – bookings essential.

11.15am—12.15pm @ The Wheeler Centre: Performance Space

 

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.

Sonia Cooper is Yorta Yorta and was raised by Nan on Cummeragunja, NSW. Sonia grew up in Country, she works and lives on Country. Her particular interests are in water, land, environmental science, law (contracts, intellectual property, negligence), culture and cultural protections, structural geology and geopolitics. She works and studies in these fields across various disciplines and is a strong advocate for her peoples rights and advancement.

Ronnie (she/her) was a recipient of Creative Victoria’s First Peoples funding program for the writing of ‘Nullung’. Ronnie was also the recipient of The Wheeler Centre Hot desk Fellowship 2020. Ronnie is also the recipient of the Inaugural First Nation Writer’s Residency for the Australian Council for the Arts 2021 as well as the recipient of the First Nation Writer’s Fellowship for Varuna the National Writers House. Ronnie’s had her first Stage Play – ‘Nullung’ (reading) at the Melbourne Theatre Company June 2021. Ronnie has also been shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary awards 2022 for the writing of Black and Blue.