'Forty years ago, letters, words and feelings flowed between a teenage daughter and her mother. Letters writen by that teenage daughter – me – handed around family back home, disappeared. Yet letters from that mother to her teenage daughter – me – remained protected in my red life-journey suitcase. I carried them across time and landscapes as a mother would carry her baby in a thaga.
'In 1978–79, I was living in an Aboriginal girls’ hostel in the Bentley suburb of Perth, attending senior high school. Mum and I sent handwritten letters to each other. I was a small-town teenager stepping outside of all things I had ever known. Mum remained in the only world she had ever known.
'Nganajungu Yagu was inspired by Mother’s letters, her life and the love she instilled in me for my people and my culture. A substantial part of that culture is language, and I missed out on so much language interaction having moved away. I talk with my ancestors’ language – Badimaya and Wajarri – to honour ancestors, language centres, language workers and those Yamaji who have been and remain generous in passing on cultural knowledge.
'–Charmain Papertalk Green' (Publication summary)
'Since Charmaine Papertalk Green’s poetry was first published in The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets in 1986, her voice on the page has been consistent: eloquently powerful, respectfully challenging and true to her role in life as a Yamaji Nyarlu. Nganajungu Yagu is no different, considering, as it does, respect for ancestors, connection to country, the role of the poet and Yamaji identity.' (Introduction)
'When was the last time you posted a handwritten letter to a family member? For most of us, the days of regularly sticking stamps on letters are long gone, supplanted by emails, text messages and FaceTime.' (Introduction)
'Yamaji woman and author Charmaine Papertalk Green has been awarded the 2020 Australian Literary Society gold medal for her book of poetry Nganajungu Yagu.'
'In this collection, which stands as an ode to the matriarchy and reinvigorates the art of letter-writing, poet Charmaine Papertalk Green imprints her multilingualism into the Australian consciousness through a trail of correspondence between herself and her mother. Nganajungu Yagu acknowledges the horrors of Australia’s colonial past while staying true to the spirit of the Aboriginal women who have carried the weight of this nation on their shoulders. Papertalk Green explains early on, “I always look back because my Ancestors lived back there”, and this theme remains consistent throughout.' (Introduction)
'Since Charmaine Papertalk Green’s poetry was first published in The Penguin Book of Australian Women Poets in 1986, her voice on the page has been consistent: eloquently powerful, respectfully challenging and true to her role in life as a Yamaji Nyarlu. Nganajungu Yagu is no different, considering, as it does, respect for ancestors, connection to country, the role of the poet and Yamaji identity.' (Introduction)
'Yamaji woman and author Charmaine Papertalk Green has been awarded the 2020 Australian Literary Society gold medal for her book of poetry Nganajungu Yagu.'
'When was the last time you posted a handwritten letter to a family member? For most of us, the days of regularly sticking stamps on letters are long gone, supplanted by emails, text messages and FaceTime.' (Introduction)
