Read from maar bidi: next generation black writing

Edited by Elfie Shiosaki and Linda Martin, maar bidi is a new anthology of poetry and prose that collects the work of up-and-coming First Nations writers. It presents readers with a stunning reflection on what it means to be a young Black person in 21st century Australia, making meaningful connections with this country’s dark past while also looking to its future.

We’re now nearing the end of NAIDOC Week, an annual celebration of the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In order to do just that, we’re featuring two poems from maar bidi – ‘Navigating home’ by Serena May-Brown and ‘Stolen Generation’ by Jarrad Travers. Read on …

Navigating home

by Serena-May Brown

When will I be able to learn?
How can I be who I’m really meant to be
when a part of me
feels unseen

Why didn’t you teach me?
I feel lost
not knowing my history
I’m tired of it being this mystery

When will I be able to learn?
I’m weary of waiting
I’m told by others to be the best version of myself
but how can I, when I don’t know my full self

I hear those Island drums calling
telling me to come home
reminding me that
I’m not alone

I always have a place to go.

Stolen Generation

by Jarrad Travers

If you didn’t surpass
You got labelled half-caste
A stolen generation
From white man’s impregnation

Their melanin just not prevalent
Yet its irrelevance evident
Training the black out
Leaves their lives in doubt

A spectrum of protrusion
Called for white man intrusion
A chemistry of supremacy
Helping them, allegedly

—maar bidi: next generation black writing, edited by Elfie Shiosaki & Linda Martin (Magabala Books), is out now.

maar bidi

next generation black writing

by Elfie Shiosaki & Linda Martin (Editors)

In this beautifully crafted, evocative and poignant anthology of prose and fiction, a diverse group of young black writers are encouraged to find strength in their voices and what is important to them.

maar bidi is a journey into what it is to be young, a person of colour and a minority in divergent and conflicting worlds. All talk to what is meaningful to them, whilst connecting the old and the new, the ancient and the contemporary in a variety of ways...

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