Maxine Beneba Clarke

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Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent, whose work includes fiction, non-fiction, plays and poetry. She is the author of over fourteen books for children and adults, notably a short story collection entitled Foreign Soil (2014), and her 2016 memoir The Hate Race , which she adapted for a stage production debuting in February 2024. Her poetry collections include Carrying the World (2016), How Decent Folk Behave (2021), It's the Sound of the Thing: 100 New Poems for Young People (2023) and Stuff I'm (NOT) Sorry For: 99 more poems for young people (2025). In 2023, Clarke was appointed the inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence at the University of Melbourne.

Contents

Early life and education

Maxine Beneba Clarke was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Kellyville. [1] Her mother was an actress of Guyanese heritage and her father an academic of Jamaican descent, who migrated to Australia from England in 1976. [2] [3] 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." [4]

Beneba Clarke attended school in Kellyville and Baulkham Hills, [5] before going on to earn a Bachelor of Creative Arts and law degree (with majors in creative writing and human rights) from the University of Wollongong. [1] [6]

She moved to Melbourne. [5]

Career

Maxine Beneba Clarke performing at the Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival, May 2018 Maxine Beneba Clarke MSWPF 2018.jpg
Maxine Beneba Clarke performing at the Melbourne Spoken Word and Poetry Festival, May 2018

Clarke published a number of short works, before publishing a collection of short stories that focuses on the African diaspora, called Foreign Soil, in 2014. She went on to publish many more works of different genres, including poetry. [1]

She has been a contributor to The Saturday Paper . [7] Her work is included in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa , edited by Margaret Busby. [8]

In December 2022 Clarke was announced as the University of Melbourne's inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence, [1] named in honour of Australian poet Peter Steele (1939–2012). The residency, which began in January 2023, was planned to last for a year; [9] however, Clarke still holds the position in 2025. [10]

Clarke wrote a stage adaptation of The Hate Race for Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, which debuted in February 2024. It is performed as a one-woman show by Zahra Newman, with sounds and music provided by musician Kuda Mapeza. [11]

Recognition and awards

Clarke's collection of short stories Foreign Soil won the 2013 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award, [6] the 2015 Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Best Literary Fiction, [12] and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Best Debut Fiction, [13] and was shortlisted for the 2015 Stella Prize. [14]

Her memoir The Hate Race (2016) won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, [15] and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for non-fiction and an ABIA for non-fiction.[ citation needed ]

Her poetry collection Carrying The World won the 2017 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry. [16] Her picture book The Patchwork Bike (2016), illustrated by Melbourne artist Van Thanh Rudd, won the Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration. [17]

In 2021, Clarke was voted the "People's Choice" for the triennial Melbourne Prize for Literature, for an outstanding body of work.[ citation needed ]

Clarke has received several writing awards and fellowships, including:

Works

Clarke's works include: [1]

As author

As editor

As illustrator

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Maxine Beneba Clarke". AustLit . 15 December 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Beejay Silcox, "Racism in Australia: Maxine Beneba Clarke writes from experience", The Australian , 6 August 2016.
  3. ↑ "The poison that eats away at your being", The Economist , 8 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Maxine Beneba Clarke, "Here Comes the Fourth Culture", PowellsBooks.Blog, 3 January 2017.
  5. 1 2 Andrew Cattanach, "Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil, answers Ten Terrifying Questions", Booktopia, 30 April 2014.
  6. 1 2 Sullivan, Jane (3 May 2014). "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Sydney Morning Herald . ISSN   0312-6315 . Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  7. ↑ "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Saturday Paper. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Toni Morrison: Melissa Lucashenko and Maxine Beneba Clarke reflect on late author's legacy", The Guardian , 8 August 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Maxine Beneba Clarke named inaugural Poet in Residence". University of Melbourne Faculty of Arts. 15 December 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Gaps in our histories with Maxine Beneba Clarke". University of Melbourne: Events. 24 April 2024. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  11. ↑ Gbogbo, Mawunyo (29 February 2024). "In The Hate Race, Zahra Newman turns Maxine Beneba Clarke's bestselling memoir into a one-woman show". ABC News (Australia) . Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  12. 1 2 "2015 ABIA Winners". ABIA Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  13. 1 2 "Indie Book Awards". Indie Book Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  14. ↑ "Foreign Soil". Stella Prize . Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  15. ↑ "The Hate Race", Hachette Australia, 2016.
  16. 1 2 "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  17. ↑ "The Patchwork Bike" at Readings.
  18. ↑ "Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship". Writers Victoria. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  19. ↑ "2017 – NSW Multicultural Award: The winner, shortlists and judges' comments". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  20. ↑ "New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards" (PDF). SL Magazine. 8 (4): 35. Summer 2015–2016.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ "Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners – The Horn Book". www.hbook.com. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  23. ↑ "Tsiolkas, Araluen, Grills, Clarke 2021 Melbourne Prize winners". Books+Publishing. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  24. ↑ "When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clarke". Joy in books. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
  25. ↑ ABIA (9 May 2024). "Australian Book Industry Award Winners 2024". ABIA. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  26. ↑ Melissa Phillips, "Wide collection of voices challenges stereotype of African Australians", The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 2019.
  27. ↑ "11 Words for Love (Randa Abdel-Fattah, illus by Maxine Beneba Clarke, Lothian)". Books+Publishing. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
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