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.

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 Māori writers.

She was the co-founder and inaugural Chairperson of the First Nations Australia Writers Network (FNAWN). 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.

In 2020 the Kuracca Prize for Australian Literature was created by Overland literary journal in memory of Reed-Gilbert.

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