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Cover image courtesy of publisher.
y separately published work icon Snake Cradle single work   autobiography  
Is part of Snake Dreaming : Autobiography of a Black Woman 1997 series - author (number 1 in series)
  • Author:agent Roberta Sykes http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/sykes-roberta
Issue Details: First known date: 1997... 1997 Snake Cradle
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Snake Cradle is the first volume of Roberta Sykes's three volume autobiography, Snake Dreaming. Snake Cradle chronicles the early years of one of Australia's best known activists for Aboriginal rights, from the time of her birth in Townsville in the 1940s through to the birth of her son when she was 17, and the trial of the men who raped her.

Roberta's voice is strong and true as she describes far north Queensland of the time, her battles with a series of childhood illnesses, and her growing awareness that hers was not an ordinary Australian childhood. Born to a white mother and a father whose identity she did not know, her passion and commitment to the struggles of the Aboriginal people was shaped by the racism her dark skin invoked. A powerful and moving autobiography about a history that must never be forgotten.' (Allen and Unwin)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

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Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.
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Related Works

Untitled Roberta Sykes , 1997 extract autobiography (Snake Cradle)
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 September 1997; (p. 5)
From : Snake Cradle Roberta Sykes , 2009 extract autobiography (Snake Cradle)
— Appears in: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 1081-1083)
VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (2)

Works about this Work

Country and Lives : Australian Biography and Its History Melanie Nolan , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Cercles , no. 35 2015; 'There have been attempts to relate national characteristics “by reference to climate, habitat and soil and investing the collective subject with psychological attributes” for over two millennia. More recently historians of modern nationalism developed elaborate typologies often citing Martin Heidegger’s arguments that “the being of the human finds its essence in the being of place — the belonging together of being and topos” [MALPAS 2012 : 5-6]. And yet the challenge to the ontological connection between self and place, what Jeff Malpas describes as the “topological analysis of self and identity”, has a long philosophical tradition, too. This debate over experience, biography and nation has implications for historians who have raised empirical questions about the development of collective sensibilities over time among recent emigrant peoples, their physical peculiarities, behaviourial quirks and emergent national character. In this paper I consider the role that biography writing played in the construction of an Australian national identity geared to what Pierre Nora famously termed as the “roman national”, or the collective discourse on the history of the nation and its place in the world. I argue that Australian historians played a significant role in the history of biograpy writing and, related to it, the debate over collective Australian identity.' (Introduction)
Teaching Contemporary Australian Autobiography Richard Freadman , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Teaching Life Writing Texts 2007; (p. 208-213)
Allegations, Secrets, and Silence : Perspectives on the Controversy of Roberta Sykes and the Snake Dreaming Series Corey China , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Disability Studies and Indigenous Studies 2003; (p. 108-123)
From 'Black' Caesar to Mudrooroo : The African Diaspora in Australia Cassandra Pybus , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Mongrel Signatures : Reflections on the Work of Mudrooroo 2003; (p. 25-41)
Is She or Isn't She? : Roberta Sykes and 'Authentic' Aboriginality Sonja Kurtzer , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 171 2003; (p. 50-56)
A Stolen Childhood Evan Whitton , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 11-12 October 1997; (p. rev 31)
— Review of Snake Cradle Roberta Sykes , 1997 single work autobiography
The Written Life that Packs a Power Punch Dianne Dempsey , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 26 October 1997; (p. 14)
— Review of Snake Cradle Roberta Sykes , 1997 single work autobiography
In Her Own Words Anne Summers , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 8 November 1997; (p. 8)
— Review of Snake Cradle Roberta Sykes , 1997 single work autobiography
Secrets and Shame Alexis Wright , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 196 1997; (p. 33)
— Review of Snake Cradle Roberta Sykes , 1997 single work autobiography
An Evil Cradling Roger Milliss , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 December 1997; (p. 15)
— Review of Snake Cradle Roberta Sykes , 1997 single work autobiography
Is She or Isn't She? : Roberta Sykes and 'Authentic' Aboriginality Sonja Kurtzer , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Overland , Winter no. 171 2003; (p. 50-56)
From 'Black' Caesar to Mudrooroo : The African Diaspora in Australia Cassandra Pybus , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Mongrel Signatures : Reflections on the Work of Mudrooroo 2003; (p. 25-41)
Allegations, Secrets, and Silence : Perspectives on the Controversy of Roberta Sykes and the Snake Dreaming Series Corey China , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Disability Studies and Indigenous Studies 2003; (p. 108-123)
Teaching Contemporary Australian Autobiography Richard Freadman , 2007 single work criticism
— Appears in: Teaching Life Writing Texts 2007; (p. 208-213)
Aboriginal Author Has the Write Stuff to Win Age Literary Award Melissa Fyfe , 1997 single work biography
— Appears in: The Age , 17 December 1997; (p. A3)
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Awards

VIEW ALL AWARDS (5)
Last amended 31 May 2017 17:37:10
Subjects:
  • 1940s
  • 1950s
  • 1960s
Settings:
  • Townsville, Townsville area, Marlborough - Mackay - Townsville area, Queensland,
  • Brisbane, Queensland,
  • ca. 1940-1970
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