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Maxine Beneba Clarke

Maxine Beneba Clarke was born and raised in the Sydney suburb of Kellyville.^[1] Her mother was an actress of Guyanese heritage and her father an academic of Jamaican descent, who migrated to Australia from England in 1976.^[2][3] She has said: "Cousins, aunts, and uncles of mine have settled all over the world: including in Germany, America, Switzerland, Australia, England, and Barbados. Mine is a complex migration history that spans four continents and many hundreds of years: a history that involves loss of land, loss of agency, loss of language, and loss, transformation, and reclamation of culture."^[4]

Beneba Clarke attended school in Kellyville and Baulkham Hills,^[5] before going on to earn a Bachelor of Creative Arts and law degree (with majors in creative writing and human rights) from the University of Wollongong.^[1][6]

She moved to Melbourne.^[5]

Clarke published a number of short works, before publishing a collection of short stories that focuses on the African diaspora, called Foreign Soil, in 2014. She went on to publish many more works of different genres, including poetry.^[1]

She has been a contributor to The Saturday Paper.^[7] Her work is included in the 2019 anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby.^[8]

In December 2022 Clarke was announced as the University of Melbourne's inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence,^[1] named in honour of Australian poet Peter Steele (1939–2012). The residency, which began on January 2023, was planned to last for a year;^[9] however, Clarke still holds the position in 2024.^[10]

Clarke wrote a stage adaptation of The Hate Race for Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, which debuted in February 2024. It is performed as a one-woman show by Zahra Newman, with sounds and music provided by musician Kuda Mapeza.^[11]

Clarke's collection of short stories Foreign Soil won the 2013 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award,^[6] the 2015 Australian Book Industry Award (ABIA) for Best Literary Fiction,^[12] and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Best Debut Fiction,^[13] and was shortlisted for the 2015 Stella Prize.^[14]

Her memoir The Hate Race (2016) won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award,^[15] and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for non-fiction and an ABIA for non-fiction.^{[citation needed]}

Her poetry collection Carrying The World won the 2017 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry.^[16] Her picture book The Patchwork Bike (2016), illustrated by Melbourne artist Van Thanh Rudd, won the Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration.^[17]

In 2021, Clarke was voted the "People's Choice" for the triennial Melbourne Prize for Literature, for an outstanding body of work.^{[citation needed]}

Clarke has received several writing awards and fellowships, including:

• 2013: Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize^[1]
• 2013: Australia Council grant^[1]
• 2014: Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship^[18]
• 2015: Winner, Indie Book Award for Best Debut Fiction, for Foreign Soil^[13]
• 2015: Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) – Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year (2015)^[12]
• 2015: Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist of the Year^[1]
• 2017: Winner, Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry, for Carrying the World^[16]
• 2017: Winner, NSW Multicultural Award in the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, for The Hate Race^[19][20]
• 2017: Honour Book, Crichton Award for Children's Book Illustration, for The Patchwork Bike (with Van Thanh Rudd)^[21]
• 2019: Winner, Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Picture Book Award for The Patchwork Bike, illustrated by Melbourne artist Van Thanh Rudd^[22]
• 2021: Melbourne Prize for Literature, Civic Choice Award^[23]
• 2021: Longlisted, Kate Greenaway Medal, for When We Say Black Lives Matter^[24]
• 2022: Appointed Peter Steele Poet in Residence;^[9] ongoing as of 2024^[10]
• 2024: Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) - Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7–12) for It's the Sound of the Thing.^[25]

Clarke's works include:^[1]

• The Hate Race: a stage adaptation (2024)
• We Know a Place, a picture book illustrated by the author (2023)
• It’s the Sound of the Thing: 100 new poems for young people, a poetry collection (2023).
• 11 Words for Love, a picture book written by Randa Abdel-Fattah - as illustrator (2022).
• How Decent Folk Behave (2021), a poetry collection
• When We Say Black Lives Matter (2020), a picture book illustrated by the author
• Meet Taj at the Lighthouse (2020), an early reader chapter book in the Aussie Kids book series.
• The Saturday Portraits (2019), a collection of creative non-fiction profiles published in The Saturday Paper
• Fashionista (2019), a picture book illustrated by the author
• Wide Big World (2018), a picture book illustrated by Isobel Knowles
• The Hate Race (2016), an autobiography
• Carrying The World (2016), a collection of poetry
• The Patchwork Bike (2016), a picture book illustrated by Van Thanh Rudd
• Foreign Soil (2014), a collection of short stories
• Nothing Here Needs Fixing (2013), a collection of poetry
• Gil Scott Heron is on Parole (2008), a collection of poetry

• Growing Up African in Australia (Black Inc., 2019)^[26]
• The Best Australian Stories 2017 (Black Inc., 2017)

• 11 Words for Love (byRanda Abdel-Fattah, 2022)^[27]

• Maxine Beneba ClarkeonX
• "The Stella Interview: Maxine Beneba Clarke", 16 March 2015.
• Beejay Silcox, "Racism in Australia: Maxine Beneba Clarke writes from experience", The Australian, 6 August 2016.