Yeena Kirkbright has had a love for poetry since she was young.
That love has seen the Wiradjuri woman receive the Opera House’s All About Women of Colour Mentorship for 2022.
Armed with a pen, and the guidance of mentors Winnie Dunn and Randa Abdel-Fattah, Ms Kirkbright will create something special – a collection that pays homage to her grandmother - Ethel Mary Riley.
"Granny grew up around Werris Creek, at a Mission not far out of the town. Her second husband was a railway worker so she spent some time down on the Nullarbor Plains, in a very isolated railway settlement,” said Ms Kirkbright.
"She was amazing, she ended up caring for nine children - her own and the cousins. She spent a lot time working for the government and was part of the cohort that had their wages stolen.”
Despite her passing when Ms Kirkbright was young, her grandmother’s imprint on the family, remains strong.
The imprint, for Ms Kirkbright, comes through in her art.
"Looking at my work I noticed that there continued to be these poems that celebrated her, and not just her but also other Aboriginal women from that generation that went through the same or similar challenges,” she said.
“I thought that this would be something nice to work on in the All About Women program. I thought these stories are really important for Australia to hear, they're stories that tell us about a generation of triumph that has protected culture, and fostered kids and grandkids to a new place of success.”
Ms Kirkbright’s father is Chris Kirkbright, who in 1983 became the first Registrar of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
"She brought up my Dad who went through law school at time where there were very few Aboriginal people in university. He became the first Lands Right Registrarin NSW - that is huge. She fostered someone that was a big part of mob history in NSW,” she said.
“There are these great stories of men but behind them there is always the investment of their mothers and grandmothers.”
Ms Kirkbright also acknowledged the strength her grandmother, and other women within her family, hold.
“I have a lot of women around me, strong women in our family. Thinking about some of my sisters, my half sisters, I think about their grandmothers and mothers. They are all really vocal women, they never back down from a fight, they always say their truth,” she said.
“That seems to be a part of who we are as women in our Kirkbright family.”
Ms Kirkbright remembers beginning to write poetry when she was young, finding it avenue for self-expression.
"I really struggled with reading and writing and mixed up words a lot. There was something about poetry that was accessible, it had shorter lines and rhymed,” she said
"Later in life, having support of English teachers at school, particularly ones that wrote poetry and were published poets also, I was encouraged to express myself in that way.”
Ms Kirkbright will undertake the mentorship program, which is facilitated by the Opera House and Western Sydney-based literacy movement Sweatshop, alongside Māori Grenadian interdisciplinary artist Ayeesha Ash.
Winners Yeena Kirkbright and Ayeesha Ash, with highly commended Lina Ali and Raqiya Ahmed. Source: Supplied
In a program first, Ms Kirkbright and Ms Ash will read their work live on-stage during the ‘In Colour: A Dialogue with Rising Artists’ at the All About Women Conference on March 13.
The final works will be published to the Sydney Opera House website and social media platforms.
"I'd love to have my own collection one day, I think getting the opportunity to sit down and review your work is crucial to get to that next stage. This will be really great thing for my work,” said Ms Kirkbright.
"A lot of the time, poets in particular, write in a silo. You never know if your stuff is good, or if you're on the right track so it'll be nice to have that guidance. And to do it with women that will understand your work and what you're trying to achieve, it’s perfect.”
All About Women will take place at the Opera House across March 12 and 13. The event will also be live-streamed and feature 50 international and Australian creatives.
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