Arelhekenhe Angkentye: women's talk : poems of Lyapirtneme from Arrernte women in Central Australia / cAgnes Perrurle Abbott [and twenty two others] ; edited by Penny Drysdale.

"Lyapirtneme is an Arrente word that means growing back, returning. It's like if a bushfire went through the land, and all the trees burnt down, and the roots underground are still alive. When the rain comes you see little shoots growing out of the bottom of the tree, growing back again. Lyapirtneme. Even when you drive along the river, and some gum trees have been burnt down, you see new shoots coming, new branches coming out. They come alive again. It's very beautiful to see after the rain." - Therese Perrurle Ryder, front flap.

"There is healing in this poetry. These are our words. From our country. Our lands. Our spirits. For all the troubles we face every day, we are a passionate people. When we hear these poems, we know, we are lovers of life." -- Back cover.

Featuring: Agnes Perrurle Abbott (1 Jan 1937 – 6 May 2019), Amelia Kngwarraye Turner, Bessie Angale Liddle, Carmelina Perrurle Marshall, Carol Kngwarraye Turner, Eva Pengarte Hayes, Helena Pengarte Buzzacott, Janisa Ryder, Julie Angale Hayes, Magdelena Perrurle Marshall, Margaret Kemarre Turner, Margaret Pengarte Scobie Maureen Jipiyiliya, Nampijinpa O’Keefe, Pat Perrurle Ansell Dodds,Patricia Kemarre Webb, Sharon Ampetyane Alice, Shirleen Kemarre Hayes,Shirley Kngwarraye Turner, Sylvia Purrurle Neale, Thelma Nungarryi Ross, Theresa Penangke Alice, Tisha Perrurle Carter, Ursula Pengarte Nichaloff, Penny Drysdale (Editor).

Includes bibliographical references.

First published Ptilotus Press, 2020.

Copyright for individual poems remains with the authors ; copyright for this collection ©Akeyulerre Aboriginal Corporation.

"The women have chosen to include their skin names rather than provide individual biographies as they find this a culturally more meaningful way of describing their place in the world and how they belong. For further information about skin names, please see Anpernirrentye, Kin and Skin: Talking about Family in Arrernte by Veronica Perrurle Dobson AM and John Henderson (IAD Press, 2013). The women are Central or Eastern Arrernte, or have strong connections to the Arrernte community. The women are mothers, grandmothers, greatgrandmothers and daughters. Some of the women would describe themselves as writers but most would not. Some had not written a poem before. Most of the women are beautiful visual artists, and most are engaged in the daily work of maintaining the cultural life of Arrernte people and passing it on to the next generations, through the Akeyulerre Healing Centre, Children’s Ground, the Institute of Aboriginal Development (IAD), and other organisations in Alice Springs." --Publisher's website.

"Arrernte women are constantly stretched across two incongruent worlds. The world of Arrernte language, culture, kinship, country and knowledge systems which they are striving to protect and maintain on a daily basis. The modern world with its ongoing colonisation and relentless pressures. Both of these worlds are captured in the poems" - Penny Drysdale, page 21.