Born of the conquerors - Judith Wright

Judith Wright is perhaps Australia's best known poet, and she has also published numerous essays, children's books and documentary histories. When her work for he Aboriginal Treaty Committee came to an end in 1985 with the publication of "We Call for a Treaty", Judith Wright along with other committee members, made a promise to do what she could to keep the issue of justice for Aboriginal people alive. In the interim she has continued her activities in conservation and environmental organisations. "Born of the Conquerors" is a further attempt to fulfil her promise to aboriginal people and a message to us all about our need to care for the land. This collection brings together for the first time twenty-one essays, previously published in a wide variety of journals and other publications. They range from the autobiographical to political comment to literary criticism, but Judith Wright's strong concerns for the survival of Aboriginal culture and the environment run through them all.

Judith Wright is probably Australia's greatest poet; she was also an ardent conservationist and activist. She died in 2000, at the age of 85. Over a long and distinguished literary career, she published poetry, children's books, literary essays, biographies, histories and other works of non-fiction. Her commitment to the Great Barrier Reef began in 1962, when she helped found the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. She went on to become a member of the Committee of Enquiry into the National Estate and life member of the Australian Conservation Foundation. Judith Wright worked tirelessly to promote land rights for Aboriginal people and to raise awareness among non-Aboriginal Australians of their plight arising from the legacy of European settlement. She has written The Cry for the Dead (1981), We Call for a Treaty (1985) and Born of the Conquerors (1991).
Judith Wright was awarded many honours for her writing, including the Grace Leven Award (twice), the New South Wales Premier's Prize, the Encyclopedia Britannica Prize for Literature, and the ASAN World Prize for Poetry. She has received honorary degrees (D.Litt.) from the Universities of New England, Sydney Monash, Melbourne, Griffith and New South Wales and the Australian National University. In 1994 she received the Human Rights Commission Award for Collected Poems.