Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this vale contains the name and photographs of a person who has died.
Creative Australia honours the life and legacy of Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green, a poet, visual artist, researcher and cultural leader whose work gave voice to truth, healing and justice for First Nations communities across Australia.
Charmaine was a proud member of the Wajarri, Badimaya and Nhanagardi Wilunyu cultural groups of the Yamaji Nation. Her creative practice spanned poetry, visual art, curation and advocacy, and was deeply rooted in Country, community, family and culture. Through her words and artworks, Charmaine illuminated the lived experiences of First Nations people, challenging colonial narratives and creating space for truth-telling and transformation.
Charmaine’s poetry was widely celebrated, earning her the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry, the ALS Gold Medal and the Red Room Poetry Fellowship. Her acclaimed works, including Nganajungu Yagu and False Claims of Colonial Thieves, are powerful testaments to her voice and vision.
Throughout her career, Charmaine was a tireless advocate for her community. As Chair of Yamaji Art and a Director of the Western Australian Art Centre Hub, she championed the role of arts and culture in building identity and strength. Her leadership extended to health and education, including her work as a research fellow at the WA Centre for Rural Health and her groundbreaking PhD at Edith Cowan University, which earned her the inaugural Kurongkurl Katitjin Research Medal.
Charmaine’s relationship with Creative Australia (formerly the Australia Council for the Arts) was long and valued. She served as a peer assessor in 2013 and 2017, and was a member of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board for three years. She participated in the Venice Emerging Indigenous Curators Program in 2017, responding to Tracey Moffatt’s My Horizon with a series of ekphrastic poems that later formed part of her PhD research. Her work was supported through various funded projects, including the Queensland Poetry Festival, First Nations Australia Writers Network workshops, and publications through Magabala Books and Fremantle Press.
Franchesca Cubillo, Executive Director First Nations Arts and Culture shared:
“Charmaine’s presence in the arts was deeply felt, as both Elder and Mentor, she made space and held space for many. Not just through her creative work, but through her advocacy and leadership. She was a voice for justice and a source of strength for her family and community."
Wenona Byrne, Director, Writing Australia shared:
"Charmaine’s writing was uncompromising in its truth and deeply generous in spirit. Her words carried history, memory and resistance, and her contribution to Australian literature is profound."
Creative Australia extends its deepest condolences to her family, friends, colleagues and community.,
Vale Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green
1962 - 2025
Touching both
by Charmaine Papertalk Green
Man-made stone cave
For another’s purpose
They have long gone
I watch how you embrace
You touch and you cling
Your skin to stone and rock
Connecting to something
Or someone who touched
This same space long ago
For that moment you are
Reluctant to peep around
The corner to what could
Be waiting or what is not
You are not that woman
That house help from back
For your hair is styled
Your fingernails to clean
Your elegance of body
From softer work done
You do not know that
Hard work of station life
For the generations later
Where freed of this slavery
Crying and nestling into
A space where your
Grandmother softly whispers
From within this hardened earth
“Don’t forget me my granddaughter”
And you have not forgotten
Written in response to Tracey Moffatts My Horizon during her time participating in the Venice Emerging Indigenous Curators Program. This was one of two pieces selected to be published in Australian Poetry Anthology Skin with guest editors Ali Coby Eckermann and Ellen Van Neervern.
