The Cherry Picker's Daughter: A childhood memoir

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The strength of family ties in Aboriginal communities is clearly evident when three-month-old Kerry and her brother lost both parents. Her father, Kevin Gilbert later to become a famous activist, writer, painter and actor killed their mother and was jailed for many years. Her father's sister, whom she always called Mummy, raised Kerry and her brother along with her own children and others within the extended family. The book is a tribute to this truly remarkable woman: their tower of strength, love and selflessness, who worked tirelessly to support all the children, who during fruit-picking season, made sure they attended school wherever it took them, who managed to keep them from being taken/'stolen' by the 'Welfare'. For so many Aboriginal people surviving during the 50s, 60s and 70s, fruit-picking meant the difference between going hungry or having a roof over your head.

Aunty Kerry grew up in humpies, tents and run-down train carriages, working from a very young age to help her family to earn 'an honest living'. Their life was one of hard but determined work, and family unity gave them the strength and dignity to continue. Their greatest strength in surviving the Protectors, the White Australia Policy and the everyday racism that they faced, was Mummy and their identity as Aboriginal people.

'A wonderful yarn by an Aboriginal Elder about a bygone way of life.' Melissa Lukashenko, Goorie author

'...an insightful and key look into the struggles, racism and classism an Indigenous family experiences...A strong memoir provides insight into a life, experience or a way of life, and Reed-GilbertsThe Cherry Pickers Daughterhas done certainly that.' ArtsHub

'Australia has waited too long to read this book of courage and truth. It heralds a timely change in ourthinking on Aboriginal activism.' Jeanine Leane, Wiradjuri writer and academic

'A remarkable memoir of courage and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, fromWiradjuri woman, Kerry Reed-Gilbert. An important book for all Australians.' Joy Rhoades, author

Reviews

A wonderful yarn by an Aboriginal Elder about a bygone way of life.
-- Melissa Lucashenko, award-winning Goorie author, 2019 Miles Franklin award winner

Australia has waited too long to read this book of courage and truth. It heralds a timely change in our thinking on
Aboriginal activism.
-- Jeanine Leane, Wiradjuri writer and academic

The Cherry Picker's Daughter: a childhood memoir brings alive a true story of a blended Koori family in New South Wales in the 1950s through the eyes of a young daughter, the author. A hardworking Koori family, 'river people', building bridges across rivers, love, towns, racism, truths and intergenerational trauma. The family's survival shaped by seasonal fruit-picking and a constant fear of the 'the welfare's' power to remove the children.
-- Charmaine Papertalk Green, poet, writer and artist

Thank you, Kerry, for sharing your story--so much pain and hurt, but such life-affirming strength and love too.
-- Kate Grenville AO, award-winning author

Author Bio

Wiradjuri woman from Central New South Wales, Aunty Kerry Reed-Gilbert has performed and conducted writing workshops nationally and internationally. She was the inaugural Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN) 2012-2015 & 2017-2018 and continues today as Patron. In 2013 she co-edited a collection of works By Close of Business. She is a member of the ACT Us Mob Writing (UMW) group and was FNAWN co-editor for the Ora Nui Journal collaboration between First Nations Australia writers and Maori writers. 2015 saw Kerry short listed for the Story Wine Prize. In 2016 and 2017 she compiled and edited editions of A Pocketful of Leadership in the ACT 2016 and A Pocketful of Leadership in First Nations Australia Communities, a collection of First Nations voices from across Australia. Kerry is a former member of the Aboriginal Studies Press Advisory Committee and her poetry and prose have been published in many journals and anthologies nationally and internationally, including in the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. Her works have been translated in French, Korean, Bengali, Dutch and other non-English speaking languages.