'The trip to China in September and October, 1984 was like seeing a great work of art. It opened our eyes. We were all very excited...To Kath Walker it was something more...She had not written any poetry for years...This volume of poetry is the fruit of her labour in China. It is a continuation of the themes which inform all her poetry - the wrongs the white people committed against her people, and her longing for a world in which those cruelties and barbarism have disappeared off the face of the earth.' (Source: page 2)
Collection of poems in English with close Mandarin translation. Poems commemorate and reflect Kath Walker's cultural tour of China in 1984. Includes autobiographical piece, and five indigenous stories.
Australian edition contains poem not contained in Chinese edition:
Some 2000 copies were taken for distribution in China, the remaining 850-1000 were sent to Australia. They arrived in Brisbane not long after the Tiananmen Square massacre of 3-4 June 1989....A new dustjacket was printed incorporating on the back cover a new poem, "Requiem". (Source: Nicholas Jose, Australian Literary Studies 16.4 (1994) : 52-53.)
'At the Emerging Writers Festival in June, acclaimed Goori novelist Melissa Lucashenko was asked to reflect on what she had learnt throughout her career.' (Introduction)
'At the Emerging Writers Festival in June, acclaimed Goori novelist Melissa Lucashenko was asked to reflect on what she had learnt throughout her career.' (Introduction)
