Herbert Morsley Wharton (born 1936) is an Indigenous Australian former stockman turned writer. Wharton began publishing poetry and yarn-like novels in his fifties, for which he is now recognised internationally.

Biography

Wharton is a Murri man: his maternal grandmother was

Kooma The Kooma are a contemporary aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples descending from tribes living in the border region of Queensland and New South Wales. They are descendants of the Koamu. Country Contemporary Kooma people state their forebe ...

and both grandfathers Irish. He was born in

Cunnamulla Cunnamulla () is a town and a locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane. In the , Cunnamulla had a population of 1,140 people. Geography Cunnamulla ...

, Queensland in 1936. Wharton and his work have been recognised in a number of ways. In 2012, Wharton received the 'Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature': a $50,000 award for eminent writers who have made outstanding and lifelong contributions to Australian literature. In 2013, Wharton was a recipient of the Queensland Greats Awards. In the

2020 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works b ...

, Wharton was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for "significant service to the literary arts, to poetry, and to the Indigenous community". The

Fryer Library The University of Queensland Library (UQ Library, founded in 1910) provides library access to students of the University of Queensland in Brisbane. It developed from a small provincial university library into a major research library.East, John ...

houses the Herb Wharton manuscript collection which contains working and completed drafts of writings, poetry (published and unpublished), correspondence, diaries, speeches, taped video and audio interviews, and miscellaneous notes.

Works

Novels * ''Unbranded'' ( UQP, 1992) * ''Yumba Days'' ( UQP, 1999) Short stories * ''Cattle Camp: Murri Drovers and their Stories'' ( UQP, 1994) * ''Where Ya Been Mate?'' (1996) Poetry * ''Kings With Empty Pockets'' (2003)
Review
* ''Imba (Listen): Tell You a Story'' (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wharton, Herb 1936 births People from Cunnamulla Australian poets Australian male novelists Australian male short story writers Indigenous Australian writers Living people Queensland Greats Members of the Order of Australia Australian stockmen