Thank you Sydney!

Yes I know this blog is way late, and I won’t even use the excuse that I’m on Koori time, it’s just that I’ve been flat-out, like everyone else. But, even when I don’t write a blog expressing it, I do actually stop every day and note in my head the people, conversations, kind acts and so forth that I am grateful for.  I simply can’t go another day without writing down my thanks for the wonderful community who came along to celebrate the release of Am I Black Enough for You? in Sydney earlier this month.

Thanks first up to my lawyerly and loyal friend Robynne Quiggin (that’s her above in the gorgeous frock which I may have to borrow at some point if can drop a few kilos and squeeze into it). My dear Wiradjuri sista did the honours of launching the book for me at the State Library of NSW in their stunning ‘Galleries’ space. Robynne’s speech was warm, insightful, generous, and funny! Aside from talking about stereotypes and the history of defining Aboriginal people, Robynne also commented about our friendship, and that given we both speak at length each morning and evening while driving to and from our jobs, it’s an absolute miracle neither if us has rear-ended another vehicle! I’m touching wood just as I write this now!

Also there on the night were two of my dear friends who flew in especially to be there. Jake Reid travelled from tropical Cairns, and Kerry Reed-Gilbert surprised me from not-so-tropical Canberra. Both women (pictured below) appear in the book, and it seemed beautifully right that they were there with me.

 

I am grateful to all my family who were there and who sent messages, and to my dear friends some visiting from as far away as the UK, other friends I knew in a former life working for government in Canberra in the early 1990s. I am truly grateful that we are still walking this path together. Thank you!

A shout out finally to all the oranisations represented at the event including but not limited to Gadigal Information Services / Koori Radio 93.9FM, the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence http://www.ncie.org.au/  the Sydney Writers’ Festival, the Australia Council for the Arts, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation and of course my fabulous publisher Random House Australia. 

Thank you! Merci! 감사합니다, Grazzi! Gracias! Teşekkür ederim! Terima kasih! Danke! Asante!