Ellen van Neerven

Last updated

Ellen van Neerven (born 1990) is an Aboriginal Australian writer, educator and editor. They are queer and non-binary. Their first work of fiction, Heat and Light (2013), won several awards, and in 2019 Van Neerven won the Queensland Premier's Young Publishers and Writers Award. Their second collection of poetry, Throat (2020), won three awards at the 2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, including Book of the Year.

Contents

Early life and education

Van Neerven was born in 1990 to Dutch and Aboriginal parents, [1] and is of the Mununjali clan of the Yugambeh nation. [2] [3]

They studied creative writing at the Queensland University of Technology. [4]

They are openly queer [5] and non-binary, using they/them pronouns. [6]

Writing career

Van Neerven's first book, Heat and Light, won the 2013 Queensland Literary Awards' David Unaipon Award for unpublished Indigenous writers, [7] the 2016 NSW Premier's Literary Award's Indigenous Writers Prize [8] and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize in 2015. [9]

Their second book, the poetry collection Comfort Food, was published in 2016. One of van Neerven's stories, Confidence Game, was featured in SBS podcast series, True Stories, in 2015. [10]

Throat (2020) is van Neerven's second collection of poems, and consists of five themed chapters: [2] "The haunt-walk in"; "Whiteness is always approaching"; "I can't wait to meet my future genders"; "Speaking outside"; and " Take me to the back of my throat". [11] [12] Throat won three prizes at the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards: Book of the Year; the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry; and the Multicultural NSW Award. [2]

Van Neerven has also had some of their poetry translated into their grandmother's Yugambeh language by Shaun Davies. [13]

Van Neerven published a piece in Griffith Review about sport, entitled "No Limits", in September 2021. [14] Described as "part creative memoir, part reportage, part theoretical essay and part history lesson", the piece examines the exclusionary nature of sport, which leads to a very low rate of participation by non-binary people. [15]

Other activities

In September 2015, in a collaboration with Poets House in New York, a recording of six First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) members reading their work was presented at a special event, which was recorded. Van Neerven was one of the readers, along with Jeanine Leane, Dub Leffler, Melissa Lucashenko, Bruce Pascoe, and Jared Thomas. [16]

Van Neerven is co-host and creative producer of two podcasts, [6] Extraordinary Voices for Extraordinary Times, launched in June 2020, [17] and Between the Leaves, launched in October 2020. [18] [19]

Awards and honours

Van Neerven was a recipient of a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, an award of A$160,000 given to mid-career creatives and thought leaders. [20]

Selected works

Fiction

Short stories

Poetry

Collections

  • Comfort Food, University of Queensland Press (2016)
  • Throat, University of Queensland Press (2020) [12]
  • invisible spears

Poems

As editor

Critical studies and reviews

Related Research Articles

The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form. It is named after Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971).

Jaya Savige is an Australian poet.

Lionel Fogarty, also published as Lionel Lacey, is an Indigenous Australian poet and political activist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jordie Albiston</span> Australian poet and academic (1961–2022)

Jordie Albiston was an Australian poet.

Gail Jones is an Australian novelist and academic.

The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction.

Jill Jones is a poet and writer from Sydney, Australia. She is a senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tara June Winch</span> Australian writer

Tara June Winch is an Australian writer. She is the 2020 winner of the Miles Franklin Award for her book The Yield.

Melissa Lucashenko is an Indigenous Australian writer of adult literary fiction and literary non-fiction, who has also written novels for teenagers.

Peter Boyle, is an Australian poet and translator.

Felicity Plunkett is an Australian poet, literary critic, editor and academic.

The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs celebrate and promote outstanding Australian writing. The awards aim to seek out, recognize and nurture great talent in Australian writing. They draw national and international attention to some of our best writers and to Queensland's recognition of outstanding Australian literature and publishing.

Tony Birch is an Aboriginal Australian author, academic and activist. He regularly appears on ABC local radio and Radio National shows and at writers’ festivals. He was head of the honours programme for creative writing at the University of Melbourne before becoming the first recipient of the Dr Bruce McGuinness Indigenous Research Fellowship at Victoria University in Melbourne in June 2015.

Emily Bitto is an Australian writer. Her debut novel The Strays won the 2015 Stella Prize for Australian women's writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous Australian literature</span> Literature produced by Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australian literature is the fiction, plays, poems, essays and other works authored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia.

Vivienne Cleven is an Indigenous Australian fiction author and writer of the Kamilaroi people. Her writing includes the novels Bitin’ Back and Her Sister’s Eye.

Bella Li is a Chinese-born Australian poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaun Davies (activist)</span> Australian activist and linguist

Shaun Davies is an Aboriginal Australian language activist, linguist, radio personality, and actor. He is known for his advocacy work with the Yugambeh language and culture, as well as appearances in various media.

Chelsea Joanne Ruth Watego is an Aboriginal Australian academic and writer. She is a Mununjali Yugambeh and South Sea Islander woman and is currently Professor of Indigenous Health at Queensland University of Technology. Her first book, Another Day in the Colony, was published in 2021.

Evelyn Araluen is an Australian poet and literary editor. She won the 2022 Stella Prize with her first book, Dropbear.

References

  1. ↑ "Shortlist 2015 | The Stella Prize". thestellaprize.com.au. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Jefferson, Dee (26 April 2021). "Poet Ellen van Neerven wins Book of the Year, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and Multicultural NSW Award at NSW Premier's Literary Awards". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 April 2021.
  3. ↑ "Ellen van Neerven, Writer, (Yugambeh) | NGV". www.ngv.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  4. ↑ "An Interview with Ellen van Neerven |". Sydney Review of Books . 23 October 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  5. ↑ Russell, Stephen A. "Throwing light on queer Indigenous voices". SBS.
  6. 1 2 "About". Ellen van Neerven. 2 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  7. ↑ jurisdiction=Queensland, corporateName=State Library of Queensland. "2013 winners". qldlitawards.org.au. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Winners announced for 2016 NSW Premier's Literary Awards". State Library of New South Wales. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 26 May 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  9. 1 2 "Shortlist 2015 | The Stella Prize". thestellaprize.com.au. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Ellen van Neerven". Programs. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  11. ↑ Neerven, Ellen van (2020), Throat [Catalogue entry], Trove
  12. 1 2 Neerven, Ellen van (2020), Throat, University of Queensland Press, ISBN   978-0-7022-6434-4
  13. ↑ van Neerven, Ellen (2018). "Gibam Garandalehn (Full Moon)". The Red Room Company.
  14. ↑ Neerven, Ellen van (1 September 2021). "No limits". Griffith Review (73). Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  15. ↑ Lewis, Samantha (12 May 2022). "'No limits': How non-binary First Nations poet Ellen van Neerven is queering sports writing". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  16. ↑ "First Nations Australia Writers' Network Reading". Poets House. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ↑ "UQP launches a poetry podcast, Extraordinary Voices for Extraordinary Times". UQP. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  18. ↑ "Launch of Between the Leaves podcast with hosts Ellen van Neerven and Hermina Burns". Victorian Women's Trust . 8 October 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "Between the Leaves". Victorian Women's Trust. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  20. ↑ "Past Award Recipients". Sidney Myer Fund & The Myer Foundation. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  21. ↑ Wyndham, Susan (13 May 2016). "The Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelists awards turn 20". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  22. ↑ "Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing 2016 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 2 September 2016. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  23. ↑ McGowan, Michael (16 October 2017). "Indigenous poet Ellen van Neerven abused by year 12 English students". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 17 October 2017.
  24. ↑ Qian, Jinghua (12 November 2019). "Winners announced for the 2019 Queensland Literary Awards". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  25. ↑ "Van Neerven wins inaugural UQP Quentin Bryce Award". Books+Publishing. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  26. ↑ "Queensland Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
  27. ↑ "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  28. ↑ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  29. ↑ "ALS Gold Medal 2021 shortlist announced". Books+Publishing. 18 June 2021. Archived from the original on 18 June 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  30. ↑ "2022 Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  31. ↑ "Skin". Meanjin. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  32. ↑ "'Wetskins', by Ellen van Neerven | The Lifted Brow". theliftedbrow.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  33. ↑ "McSweeney's Issue 41". store.mcsweeneys.net. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  34. ↑ "Invisible spears". Overland literary journal. Retrieved 19 November 2016.
  35. ↑ Homeland calling. Neerven, Ellen van, 1990-, Baker, Danzal, Pitt, Lakkari. Richmond, Vic. 2020. ISBN   978-1-74117-692-6. OCLC   1126588713.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.