Indigenous West Australian poet Charmaine Papertalk-Green was born at Eradu railway siding on the Greenough River between Mullewa and Geraldton in Western Australia. Her mother is of the Wajarri people and her father is of the Bardimia people. Writing and publishing poetry since she was a teenager, Papertalk-Green’s poems have appeared in anthologies of indigenous Australian poetry - including in Inside Black Australia: An Anthology of Aboriginal Poetry (Penguin) edited by Kevin Gilbert. Hard-hitting and intense as well as compassionate and empowering, Papertalk says what she means and is willing to take on issues that affect her community from the outside, as well as from the inside. She writes about indigenous loss and tensions and conflicts among her own people - including the legacy and heritage by drugs and alcohol, and violence, with empathy and directness.