Herb Wharton

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Herb Wharton is an Australian poet and novelist. A Murri man, his maternal grandmother was Kooma, and both grandfathers Irish. He was born in Yumba, an Aboriginal camp in the south-western Queensland town of Cunnamulla.

He has worked as a stockman, a drover and a labourer, but did not begin his writing career until he was around 50, in the 1980s, when he sat down under a tree and began to write. Through his writing, he tried to answer questions about his people's past, and eventually considered publishing his poetry.

With a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts, through its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board, he bought an electric typewriter and wrote a book of poems, Kings with Empty Pockets.

In 1990 Herb entered some of his poems in the Unaipon Award for unpublished Aboriginal writers. His work was highly commended and as a result, University of Queensland Press (UQP) commissioned him to write a novel.

His first novel, Unbranded was published in 1992, relating his experiences on the stock routes of inland Australia. In 1994 he published Cattle Camp, then Where ya' been, mate?, (1996) and Yumba Days, (1999).

Herb recently finished the first draft of a new novel called The Munta and the Mob.

Herb has participated in an international book promotion tour of France and the UK, and won a residency at the Australia Council studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 1998.

Now based in Brisbane, Herb writes full-time and is in demand as a literary ambassador for Australia, travelling regularly overseas to attend major literary festivals. He is also a member of the Australian Stockman's Hall of Fame in Longreach.

He has also published a volume of poetry, Imba (Listen): Tell You A Story. In each of his books of poetry, a glossary is included to assist readers understand all the Murri language words (Murrayisms), he uses throughout his writing.