Carmen

1994 · rif. 133217 — Broome: Magabala Books 1994. First Edition. Paperback. Fine. Broome Magabala Books 1994. Octavo viii 216 pages. Colour-pictorial card covers very slightly rubbed; essentially a fine copy. Signed on the half-title by the author using his true name Leon Carmen. Purporting to be the memoir of an Aboriginal woman born in Central Australia and fostered in Adelaide as part of the Stolen Generations 'My Own Sweet Time' received critical acclaim was widely set as a school text and won the Nita May Dobbie Award for a first novel by a woman writer. In 1997 it was revealed to be a hoax written by white male taxi driver Leon Carmen with his friend John Bayley posing as literary agent for the entirely fictitious Wanda. When approached with the manuscript for her second book the small Aboriginal publishing house Magabala Books asked to meet with the author. Conscious of the recent Demidenko affair Carmen and Bayley revealed the hoax the book was quickly withdrawn from sale and the prize money returned. Geoffrey Cains gives a lengthy account of the affair in 'Access Denied. A Bibliography of Suppressed Australian Literature' pages 131-135. Offered together with: 1 'Door to Door' the sequel to Wanda's story and the first novel to be published under Carmen's true name Surry Hills Despot Publishing 1998; a near-fine copy signed. In the introduction Carmen gives his account of the hoax including his conviction that his previous literary efforts had been rejected because he was white and male. 2 'Autographs. Contemporary Australian Autobiography' an anthology featuring an extract from 'My Own Sweet Time' St Lucia University of Queensland Press 1996; a very good copy signed by Carmen. Cain 86. 3 items. Magabala Books paperback