Street poems from the Central Desert
n.p. n.p., n.d. Two stapled and photocopied foolscap sheets : poems in English with some aboriginal words (Pintupi/Luritja) : combination of type and freehand text and includes illustrations. Toned. Very good. Item #15893
This short collection of poems "from a place where there are no streets" (p.2) was printed "in the Central Australian Desert of Australia without the assistance of the Literature Bored [sic]"(p.2) and advertises "The Stories of Obed Raggett" on p. 2. That, and the first poem titled "Tutama Tjanpangati's Speech" suggest this 4-page collection was produced in or around Papunya in the early 1980s.
"In the mid-1970s, at the request of the Papunya people, whilst teaching at Papunya High School, Billy Marshall Stoneking collected and collaborated in the writing of Pintupi/Luritja language stories told or written by local people in a bilingual reading programme for children and adults. Stories of Obed Raggett (Alternative Publishing Cooperative, 1980) [was] written, translated and illustrated by Aranda storyteller Obed Raggett, and edited by Stoneking who [described] the origin of the stories as well as Obed Raggett’s role in his community." Behind the Imagined, Issue 5, 2021-2022, p. 15. Tutuma Tjapangati (c.1909–1987) was a prominent Pintupi/Pitjantjatjara ceremonial leader and pioneering Papunya Tula artist.
Price: $125.00