image of person or book cover 4761369127137025286.png
This image has been sourced from Anita Heiss 2014.
y separately published work icon Am I Black Enough for You? single work   autobiography  
Issue Details: First known date: 2012... 2012 Am I Black Enough for You?
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'I'm Aboriginal. I'm just not the Aboriginal person a lot of people want or expect me to be.

'What does it mean to be Aboriginal? Why is Australia so obsessed with notions of identity? Anita Heiss, successful author and passionate campaigner for Aboriginal literacy, was born a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, but was raised in the suburbs of Sydney and educated at the local Catholic school. She is Aboriginal - however, this does not mean she likes to go barefoot and, please, don't ask her to camp in the desert. After years of stereotyping Aboriginal Australians as either settlement dwellers or rioters in Redfern, the Australian media have discovered a new crime to charge them with: being too "fair-skinned" to be an Australian Aboriginal. Such accusations led to Anita's involvement in one of the most important and sensational Australian legal decisions of the 21st-century when she joined others in charging a newspaper columnist with breaching the Racial Discrimination Act. He was found guilty, and the repercussions continue.

'In this deeply personal memoir, told in her distinctive, wry style, Anita Heiss gives a first-hand account of her experiences as a woman with an Aboriginal mother and Austrian father, and explains the development of her activist consciousness.' (From the publisher's website.)

Exhibitions

6939401
16598403
28283472
19730752
19567105

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Bantam Australia , 2012 .
      image of person or book cover 4914316680747080473.png
      This image has been sourced from Anita Heiss 2014.
      Extent: 346p.
      Note/s:
      • Publication date: 2 April 2012.
      ISBN: 9781742751924 (pbk.), 9781742751931 (ebk.), 174275192X
    • Honolulu, Hawaii,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      University of Hawaii Press ,
      2014 .
      image of person or book cover 66935990765805795.jpg
      Cover image courtesy of publisher.
      Extent: 352p.
      Note/s:
      • Published May 2014.
      ISBN: 9780824840273 (pbk), 0824840275
Alternative title: Am I Black Enough For You? : 10 Years On
    • North Sydney, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Vintage Australia , 2022 .
      image of person or book cover 5396764646198342348.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 352p.p.
      Edition info: Updated ed.
      Note/s:
      • Published March 2022.
      ISBN: 9781761046162

Other Formats

  • Braille.
  • Sound recording.

Works about this Work

y separately published work icon Anita Heiss on 'Am I Black Enough For You?' Astrid Edwards (interviewer), 2022 24663039 2022 single work podcast interview

'Anita Heiss is a proud member of the Wiradyuri nation of central New South Wales, and she writes across genres including non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children’s fiction. Her memoir Am I Black Enough for You? was a finalist in the 2012 Human Rights Awards, and was updated and republished in 2022.

'Anita’s other non-fiction works include Dhuuluu-Yala (To Talk Straight): Publishing Aboriginal Literature, and, as editor, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia and The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, which she co-edited with Peter Minter.

'Her adult fiction includes Not Meeting Mr Right, Avoiding Mr Right, Manhattan Dreaming, Paris Dreaming and Tiddas. Her novel Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards and longlisted for the Dublin International Literary Prize, and was the University of Canberra 2020 Book of the Year. Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray was shortlisted for the 2021 HNSA ARA Historical Novel.'  (Introduction)

Why Write? Timmah Ball , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 79 no. 1 2020;

'There was a Facebook message from Hetti Perkins, which was an odd coincidence. I was working on a poem about her late father Charlie for a collection, which I would later abandon as I grew aware that I lacked the precision for poetry. The early interest I had attracted leading to these opportunities was more about a literary industry driven to uncover diverse new voices than an acknowledgement that with hard work and patience I might become a great writer. Attention that provided motivation but pushed emerging writers in directions at once exhilarating, confusing and premature. At the time I was considering using the title ‘Peeling’ for the poetry chapbook when I noticed her message. The poem was about her father’s role in the Nancy Prasad incident, where a five-year-old Fijian girl was deported to Fiji, symptomatic of Australia’s racist immigration policies of the 1960s.' (Introduction)

y separately published work icon Anita Heiss Nic Brasch (interviewer), 2017 14750983 2017 single work interview podcast

'Nic Brasch: Welcome to The Garret. The Garret podcast is a series of interviews with the best writers writing today. This episode features the prolific writer and activist Anita Heiss. Anita’s story in just a moment.' (Introduction)

Reviewing Race in the Digital Literary Sphere : A Case Study of Anita Heiss’ Am I Black Enough for You? Imogen Mathew , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Humanities Review , November no. 60 2016;
Black Enough for Who? MaameJ , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: Border Crossings 2015;

— Review of Am I Black Enough for You? Anita Heiss , 2012 single work autobiography
'In her boyer Lectures, Marcia Langton points out that many white Australians haven't really got to grips with the reality that Aboriginal people can be middle class...'
Black, White and a Life in Between Michael McGirr , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 21 April 2012; (p. 31) The Sydney Morning Herald , 21-22 April 2012; (p. 30-31)

— Review of Am I Black Enough for You? Anita Heiss , 2012 single work autobiography
Books of the Week Lizzie Stafford , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 29 April 2012; (p. 37)

— Review of Dark Places Kate Grenville , 1994 single work novel ; Am I Black Enough for You? Anita Heiss , 2012 single work autobiography
Am I Black Enough For You 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Reconciliation News , May no. 23 2012; (p. 19)

— Review of Am I Black Enough for You? Anita Heiss , 2012 single work autobiography
Memoir Gets it Right Rudi Maxwell , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Koori Mail , 2 May no. 525 2012; (p. 43)

— Review of Am I Black Enough for You? Anita Heiss , 2012 single work autobiography
Anita Heiss : Am I Black Enough for You? Linda Funnell , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: The Newtown Review of Books , April 2012;

— Review of Am I Black Enough for You? Anita Heiss , 2012 single work autobiography
Anita Heiss Tim Elliott , 2012 single work biography
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6-8 April 2012; (p. 30-31)
Racist Slurs in Bolt Link Spark Fury Saffron Howden , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 12 April 2012; (p. 5)
Free Speech for Some Andrew Bolt , 2012 single work correspondence
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 13 April 2012; (p. 10)
Bolt Link to Racist Reviews of Book Saffron Howden , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 12 April 2012; (p. 3)
It's Not about Being Black Enough, It's about Need Caroline Overington , 2012 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Australian , 11 April 2012; (p. 12)
Last amended 31 Mar 2022 15:10:25
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