Sally Morgan (artist)
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Sally Jane Morgan (née Milroy; born 1951) is an
Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...
author,
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, and artist. Her works are on display in numerous private and public collections in Australia and around the world.


Early life, education, and personal life

Morgan was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1951 as the eldest of five children. She was raised by her mother Gladys and her maternal grandmother Daisy. Her mother, a member of the
Bailgu The Bailgu are an indigenous Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Country Bailgu traditional lands extended over , according to Norman Tindale's estimate, covering the upper Fortescue River, and taking in Roy Hill and e ...
people of the
Pilbara The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
region of Western Australia, grew up in the Parkerville Children's Home as part of the
Stolen Generations The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen Children) were the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian federal and state government agencies and church miss ...
. Her father, William, a plumber by trade, died after a long-term battle with post-war experience
post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...
. Of her siblings,
Jill Milroy Jillian Debora Milroy, AM is an Australian Aboriginal academic specialising in traditional forms of knowledge, including storytelling. She is of Palyku descent. Of her siblings, Sally Morgan is an author and artist, Helen Milroy is a child ps ...
is an academic, Helen Milroy is a child psychiatrist who was the first indigenous Australian to become a medical doctor, David is a playwright, and William has worked as a senior public servant. As a child, Morgan became aware that she was different from other children at her school because of her non-
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
physical appearance, and was frequently questioned by other students about her family background. Her mother never told her that she was Aboriginal, saying instead that she was of Indian-Bangladeshi descent. She understood from her mother that her ancestors were from the Indian sub-continent. But, when she was 15, she learned that she and her siblings were actually of Aboriginal descent. After finishing school, she worked as a clerk in a government department, had a period of unemployment, then obtained a job as a laboratory assistant. she then attended the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
, graduating in 1974 with a B.A. in Psychology; she followed up with post-graduate diplomas from the
Western Australian Institute of Technology Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...
in Counselling Psychology, Computing, and Library Studies. She married Paul Morgan, a teacher she had met at university, in 1972; the marriage later ended in divorce. They have three children, Ambelin, Blaze, and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, all of whom have co-authored works with Morgan.


Author

The story of her discovery of her family's past is told in the 1987 multiple biographies ''My Place'', which sold over half a million copies in Australia. It has also been published in Europe, Asia and the United States. It told a story that many people didn't know; of children taken from their mothers, slavery, abuse and fear because their skin was a different colour. Sally Morgan's second book, ''Wanamurraganya'', was a biography of her grandfather. She has also collaborated with artist and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft on children's books, including ''Dan's Grandpa'' (1996). Morgan is the director at the Centre for Indigenous History and the Arts at the
University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...
. She has received several awards: ''My Place'' won the
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission The Australian Human Rights Commission is the national human rights institution of Australia, established in 1986 as the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and renamed in 2008. It is a statutory body funded by, but oper ...
humanitarian award in 1987, the Western Australia Week literary award for non-fiction in 1988, and the 1990 Order of Australia Book Prize. In 1993, international art historians selected Morgan's print ''Outback'', as one of 30 paintings and sculptures for reproduction on a stamp, celebrating the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
.


Awards

* 1987 – Human Rights Literature and Other Writing Award for ''My Place'' * 1989 – Human Rights Literature and Other Writing Award for ''Wanamurraganya, the story of Jack McPhee'' * 1990 – Winner, Order of Australia Book Prize * 1993 – Joint winner
Fremantle Print Award The Fremantle Print Award is Australia's longest-running, most prestigious and largest printmaking award, and is awarded by the Fremantle Arts Centre, who also acquire the winning work. The award was established in 1976 with the support of Shell ...
with Bevan Honey''Print Matters 30 Years of the Shell Fremantle Print Award"' Holly Story ..et al 2005 FAC * 1998 – Notable Book, Children's Book Council * 2012 – Notable Book, Children's Book Council of Australia * 2022 – Co-Winner Picture fiction, Environment Award for Children's Literature


Bibliography


Biography

* ''Sally's story'' (Narkaling productions, 1995) edited by
Barbara Ker Wilson Barbara Ker Wilson (24 September 1929 – 10 September 2020) was an English-born Australian novelist. She is credited as the person who "discovered" Paddington Bear. She wrote over twenty books and collated collections of stories. She gained awar ...
* '' My Place'' (Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press. 1999 – first published 1987) * ''Wanamurraganya, the story of Jack McPhee'' (Narkaling Productions, 1990) * ''Mother and daughter: The story of Daisy and Gladys Corunna'' (Narkaling Productions, 1994) Edited by Barbara Ker Wilson * ''Arthur Corunna's story'' (Narkaling Productions, 1995) edited by Barbara Ker Wilson


Children's books

* ''Little piggies'' (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1991) with Paul Morgan * ''The flying emu and other Australian stories'' (Viking, 1992) * ''Hurry up, Oscar!'' (Puffin Books, 1994) illustrated by Bettina Guthridge * ''Pet problem'' (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1994) * ''Dan's grandpa'' (Sandcastle, 1996) illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft * ''In your dreams'' (Sandcastle Books, 1997) illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft * ''Just a little brown dog'' (Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1997) illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft * "''Where is Galah''" (Little Hare Books, 2015) * ''Little Bird's Day'' (Magabala Books, 2019) illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr * ''The River'' (Magabala Books, 2021) illustrated by Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr


Plays

* ''Cruel wild woman'' and David Milroy (Yirra Yaakin Noongar Theatre, 1999) performed in the 1999
Festival of Perth Perth Festival, named Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) between 2000 and 2017, and sometimes referred to as the Festival of Perth, is Australia's longest-running cultural festival, held annually in Western Australia. The program features ...
season.


Edited

* ''Gnyung Waart Kooling Kulark'' (released as ''Going Home'') (Centre for Indigenous History & the Arts, School of Indigenous Studies, University of Western Australia, 2003) co-edited with Jill Milroy and Tjalaminu Mia. * ''Echoes of the past : Sister Kate's home revisited'' (Centre for Indigenous History and the Arts 2002) with Tjalaminu Mia, photography by Victor France


Art collections

* Robert Holmes à Court collection * Dobell Foundation * Australian National Gallery *
Muscarelle Museum of Art The Muscarelle Museum of Art is a university museum affiliated with the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. While the Museum only dates to 1983, the university art collection has been in existence since its first gift – a por ...


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Sally 1951 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian women artists 21st-century Australian artists Australian biographers Australian memoirists Australian women novelists Indigenous Australian writers Indigenous Australians from Western Australia Writers from Perth, Western Australia Australian Aboriginal artists Australian printmakers Australian women memoirists Women biographers Women printmakers University of Western Australia alumni