Maxine Beneba Clarke

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an Australian writer of Afro-Caribbean descent,[1][2] whose work includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry. She is the author of over 14 books for children and adults.

Her collection of short stories Foreign Soil won the 2013 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award,[3] the 2015 ABIA for Best Literary Fiction,[4] the 2015 Indie Award for Best Debut Fiction,[5] and was shortlisted for the 2015 Stella Prize.[6] Her memoir The Hate Race (2016) won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award,[7] and her poetry collection Carrying The World won the 2017 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.[8] Her picture book The Patchwork Bike (2016), illustrated by Melbourne artist Van Thanh Rudd, won the Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration.[9] Clarke is a contributor to The Saturday Paper,[10] and is included in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.[11]In 2021, Clarke was voted the 'People's Choice' for the triennial Melbourne Prize for Literature for an outstanding body of work.

Biography

Maxine Beneba Clarke was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Kellyville.[12] Her mother was an actress of Guyanese heritage and her father an academic of Jamaican descent, who migrated to Australia from England in 1976.[13][14][12] 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."[15]

Beneba Clarke attended school in Kellyville and Baulkham Hills,[16] before going on to earn a Bachelor of Creative Arts and law degree[1] from the University of Wollongong.[3] She moved to Melbourne.[16]

Recognition

Clarke has received several writing awards and fellowships, including:

Works

Clarke's works include:[1]

As author
  • We Know a Place, a picture book illustrated by the author (2023)
  • It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people, a poetry collection (2023).
  • 11 Words for Love, a picture book written by Randa Abdel-Fattah - as illustrator (2022).
  • How Decent Folk Behave (2021), a poetry collection
  • When We Say Black Lives Matter (2020), a picture book illustrated by the author
  • Meet Taj at the Lighthouse (2020), an early reader chapter book in the Aussie Kids book series.
  • The Saturday Portraits (2019), a collection of creative non-fiction profiles published in The Saturday Paper
  • Fashionista (2019), a picture book illustrated by the author
  • Wide Big World (2018), a picture book illustrated by Isobel Knowles
  • The Hate Race (2016), an autobiography
  • Carrying The World (2016), a collection of poetry
  • The Patchwork Bike (2016), a picture book illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd
  • Foreign Soil (2014), a collection of short stories
  • Nothing Here Needs Fixing (2013), a collection of poetry
  • Gil Scott Heron is on Parole (2008), a collection of poetry

As editor
  • Growing Up African in Australia (Black Inc., 2019)[23]
  • The Best Australian Stories 2017 (Black Inc., 2017)

As illustrator

References
  1. "Maxine Beneba Clarke". Austlit. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  2. "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  3. Sullivan, Jane (3 May 2014). "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Sydney Morning Herald. ISSN 0312-6315. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  4. "2015 ABIA Winners". ABIA Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  5. "Indie Book Awards". Indie Book Awards. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  6. "Foreign Soil". Stella Prize. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  7. "The Hate Race", Hachette Australia, 2016.
  8. "Victorian Premier's Literary Awards 2017". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. "The Patchwork Bike" at Readings.
  10. "Maxine Beneba Clarke". The Saturday Paper. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  11. "Toni Morrison: Melissa Lucashenko and Maxine Beneba Clarke reflect on late author's legacy", The Guardian, 8 August 2019.
  12. "Maxine Beneba Clarke: (author/organisation) | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  13. Beejay Silcox, "Racism in Australia: Maxine Beneba Clarke writes from experience", The Australian, 6 August 2016.
  14. "The poison that eats away at your being", The Economist, 8 July 2017.
  15. Maxine Beneba Clarke, "Here Comes the Fourth Culture", PowellsBooks.Blog, 3 January 2017.
  16. Andrew Cattanach, "Maxine Beneba Clarke, author of Foreign Soil, answers Ten Terrifying Questions", Booktopia, 30 April 2014.
  17. "Tsiolkas, Araluen, Grills, Clarke 2021 Melbourne Prize winners". Books+Publishing. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  18. "Presenting the 2019 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winners – The Horn Book". www.hbook.com. 29 May 2019. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  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. "Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship". Writers Victoria. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  23. Melissa Phillips, "Wide collection of voices challenges stereotype of African Australians", The Sydney Morning Herald, 26 April 2019.
  24. "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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