Kerry Reed-Gilbert
Kerry Reed-Gilbert (24 October 1956 – 13 July 2019) was an Australian poet, author, collector, editor, educator, a champion of Indigenous writers and an Aboriginal rights activist. She was a Wiradjuri woman.
Also recorded as Kerry Gilbert
Kerry Reed-Gilbert
- Born
- 1956
- Died
- 2019 · Canberra.
- Nationality
- Australia
- Occupation
- human rights defender · writer · poet
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Kerry Reed-Gilbert. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q65582558 · wikipedia · Kerry Reed-Gilbert
In this article
Early life
Early life
Born on 24 October 1956 in central New South Wales, Reed-Gilbert was orphaned at three months old when her father Kevin Gilbert murdered her mother Gomah Gilbert (née Scott). Reed-Gilbert was raised by her father's sister, whom Reed-Gilbert called "Mummy", and she became the youngest of eight children. Reed-Gilbert was a Wiradjuri woman and her childhood memoirs are published in The Cherry Picker's Daughter: A childhood memoir.
Career
Career
Reed-Gilbert wrote poetry and prose and was actively involved in writers groups and publishing the work of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori writers. She was the co-founder and inaugural Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN). She was also a member of the Aboriginal Studies Press Advisory Committee. Reed-Gilbert was instrumental in strengthening the governance of Us Mob Writing group to where she was a member and the chairperson.
Works
Works
Reed-Gilbert's poetry was translated into Dutch, French, Bengali and Korean. Reed-Gilbert edited a number of anthologies of poetry and prose. * * * * * * • Reed-Gilbert, Kerry (2018), 'The Little Town on the Railway Track', Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia, Black Inc, ISBN 9781863959810
Other activities
Reed-Gilbert collected Aboriginalia, a variety of prints, figurines, plates, ashtrays, badges, and velvet paintings of Aboriginal people or featuring Aboriginal motifs. In 2016 this collection was acquired by AIATSIS. She presented an episode of the 2013 documentary television series Desperate Measures, about her father, activist and writer Kevin Gilbert.
Death and legacy
Reed-Gilbert died on 13 July 2019 in Canberra. She was survived by her two daughters, Lesa and Melanie, her grandchildren Jirrima, Yarran, Tenisha, Kaylarnie and Yullara and her great-grandchildren. In 2020 the Kuracca Prize for Australian Literature was created by Overland literary journal in memory of Reed-Gilbert.
Awards
• 2003: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board fellowship for poetry and writing at Omi International Arts Center in New York. • 2006: ‘Outstanding Achievement in Poetry’ and ‘Poet of Merit’ Award from the International Society of Poets.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Kerry Reed-Gilbert, revision 1355509223 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Kerry Reed-Gilbert. Austlit.
- 2.The Cherry Picker's Daughter. www.newsouthbooks.com.au.
- 3.Samantha Faulkner. Pamle : Torres Strait Islanders in Canberra. 2018. 978-0-9925598-4-7.
- 4.Us Mob: Launch of Too Deadly and ACT Leadership Book. ACT Writers Centre.
- 5.A response to 'Aboriginalia and the politics of Aboriginal kitsch'. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 16 July 2018.
- 6.Reading Room Display: The Kerry Reed-Gilbert collection. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 27 June 2018.
- 7.Kevin Gilbert (2013) - The Screen Guide. Screen Australia. 16 March 2018.
- 8.Working with Words: Kerry Reed-Gilbert. The Wheeler Centre.
- 9.VERITY LA POETRY PODCAST Episode 12: Aunty Kerry Reed-Gilbert. Verity La. 18 April 2019.
- 10.Kuracca Prize for Australian Literature Overland literary journal. Overland Literary Journal.
- 11.Overland creates new prize in honour of Reed-Gilbert. Books+Publishing. 2021-01-14.
- 12.Kerry Reed-Gilbert interviewed by Mary Hutchison in the Centenary of Canberra oral history project. 2014.
- 13.States of Poetry 2017 – ACT – About Kerry Reed-Gilbert. Australian Book Review.
- 14.The Cherry Picker's Daughter (Melissa Lucashenko). Verity La. 1 October 2019.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 22 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Keri HulmeAuthor
- KerkopsAuthor
- Kermit Roosevelt Jr.Author
- Kerry KatonaAuthor
- Kersti BergrothAuthor
- Kersti MerilaasAuthor
- Kerstin HedAuthor
- Kerstin NorborgAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Kerry Reed-Gilbert?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.