Senior Library Books
Resource Key
LEVEL 1
brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)
LEVEL 2
provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.
LEVEL 3
lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)
Interview
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Davis, J. & Roberts, A. (1990, October 11). Interview with Jack Davis: Part 1 [MP3]. Perth: State Library of Western Australia.
Jack Davis discusses his experiences at Moore River Settlement (1932), views on Aboriginal policies etc. -
Davis, J. & Roberts, A. (1990, October 11). Interview with Jack Davis: Part 2 [MP3]. Perth: State Library of Western Australia.
Second part of the interview in which Jack Davis discusses his experiences at Moore River Settlement (1932), views on Aboriginal policies etc.
Introduction
Thirty years have now passed since Jack Davis’ No Sugar was first performed at the Maltings in North Perth in 1985. The play, which tells the story of Northam’s Munday-Millimurra family and their forced relocation to Moore River in the 1930s, travelled briefly. It was the Australian entry at the 1986 World Theatre Festival in Canada; it went to Melbourne’s Fitzroy Town Hall, for a performance of a Davis trilogy; and, finally, to London’s Riverside Studios in 1988. Other than that, professional performances of No Sugar have been rare. Nonetheless, Davis’ semi-autobiographical tale of disenfranchisement remains worryingly relevant.
Biography
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Live Performance Australia. (2007). Jack Davis AM BEM 1917-2000. Retrieved from http://www.liveperformance.com.au/halloffame/jackdavis1.html
Katharine Brisbane, whose Currency Press published most of Jack Davis’s plays, described him as Australia's ‘most influential black playwright, although he was not the first. He inspired other Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to use the stage as a forum for communicating with white people.
First Born
Roelofs, R. (Producer & Director). (1988). First born: The life and times of Jack Davis [Television broadcast]. Holywood, Co. Down: Zest Films.
Literary Criticism
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Hughes-d'Aeth, T. (2015). Spinning the Dreamers: Jack Davis and the drama of assimilation. Westerly, 60(1), 24-39.
The title alludes to Anna Haebich's study of post-war assimilation. The 'dream' Haebich is addressing is the dream of assimilation, a society in which cultural difference magically disappears and is replaced by a shining, harmonious, homogenous and undeniably white future. The article discusses Jack Davis, his writing and productions of his plays. -
Dibble, B., & MacIntyre, M. (1992). Hybridity in Jack Davis' No Sugar. Westerly, 37(4), 93-98.
The story of Australia, as it is constituted in white Australian history and culture, has as two of its powerful underlying themes the achievement of nationhood and the quest for an Australian identity. -
Hodge, B. (1994). Jack Davis and the emergence of Aboriginal writing. Critical Survey, 6(1), 98-104.
One of the most important cultural developments in Australia today is the emergence of Aboriginal writers and artists into the mainstream of cultural production.
Identity Magazine Articles
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Davis, J. (1974, January 1). Demonstration: The reasons why. Identity, pp. 34-35.
Jack Davis discusses the organisation and running of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.
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Davis, J. (1974, April 1). Aborigines and white society. Identity, pp. 10-11, 18.
Jack Davis comments on the slow acceptance of Indigenous Australians as an integral part of Australian society.
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Davis, J. (1978, January 1). The Black Scene: Yesterday and Today. Identity, pp. 34-35.
Jack Davis discusses how Indigenous Australians have been left behind in a time of great progress as a result of their mistreatment at the hands of the government and its policies.
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Davis, J. (1975, January 1). Broome is a Nice Place to Live as Long as You Don't Live on the Reserves. Identity, pp. 16-17.
Jack Davis comments on his visit to the town of Broome and the three reserves surrounding it, and the inequality that he observed.
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Davis, J. (1974, January 1). Attempted Genocide and the Aftermath. Identity, p. 24.
Jack Davis comments on the prejudiced treatment of Indigenous Australians.
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Davis, J. (1975, April 1). The traumas affecting Aboriginal children and which retard their progress. Identity, p. 3-4.
Address given by Jack Davis at the Mt Lawley Teachers Training College in November, 1974.
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Davis, J. (1976, October 1). Where are we going? Identity, p. 4-6.
Jack Davis discusses the potential phasing out of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and how that would be detrimental to Indigenous Australians.