28/08/2026
Dearly missed
๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ง๐
One year ago today, the Mid West lost one of its most powerful voices.
Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith was a Wajarri, Badimaya and Wilunyu woman, poet, writer, artist, researcher, community leader and fierce advocate for Yamaji people, culture and Country.
A year later, her absence is deeply felt, but her voice has not faded.
Charmaine wrote about Country, memory, family, dispossession, Aboriginal women, cultural survival and the responsibility of carrying knowledge from one generation to the next. In her poetry, the past was never separate from the present. Ancestors remained present. Country remembered. Women carried stories forward.
In her 2023 poem, "Etched in My Mind", Charmaine reflected on her mother, ancestors and the strength inherited from the women who came before her. The poem ends with the powerful words:
โWe can stand our ground because of her.โ
A year after Charmaineโs passing, those words have taken on another meaning.
Charmaine herself is now one of those women whose words, work and example will help others stand their ground.
Another of her 2023 poems, "We Not Strangers or Visitors", speaks to the enduring relationship between First Nations people, Country and ancestral memory. In it, Charmaine writes:
โThere cannot be masterclass in amnesia
We must continue to remember.โ
Remembering was central to so much of Charmaineโs work. She challenged the erasure of Aboriginal history, reclaimed stories and records, and reminded us that Country itself holds memory.
Over the past year, her extraordinary contribution has continued to receive recognition.
The poetry category of the Western Australian Premierโs Book Awards has now been renamed the Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith Poetry Prize. The inaugural prize will be presented in September 2026 for the best Western Australian poetry book published in the preceding year.
At the same event, Charmaine will be posthumously inducted into the Western Australian Writers Hall of Fame, recognising her distinctive body of work and her enduring place in Western Australian literature.
Just days before the first anniversary of her passing, Charmaine was also remembered in the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia, where Hon Sandra Carr paid tribute to her life, writing, research, advocacy and lasting influence.
These honours are significant, but Charmaineโs legacy extends far beyond awards.
Women have too often been underrepresented in our historical record, their contributions overlooked or given less prominence than they deserve. Aboriginal women in particular have had to contend with histories written through colonial perspectives. Remembering women such as Charmaine, and recording their words, work and influence, helps ensure their contribution is not lost to future generations.
For more than two decades Charmaine worked to strengthen cultural visibility, education, health and community wellbeing. She challenged colonial narratives, advocated for Aboriginal women and regional communities, and encouraged younger generations to know the strength of their culture and Country.
Her words are still being read.
Her poetry is still being taught.
Her ideas are still being discussed.
Her advocacy continues to influence others.
And now her name will be carried forward each year through a poetry prize that will encourage another generation of Western Australian writers.
On the first anniversary of her passing, we remember Dr Charmaine Papertalk Green Smith and the extraordinary contribution she made to Yamaji Country, the Mid West and Australian literature.
Her words remain.
Her stories remain.
Her influence remains.
And, in Charmaineโs own words:
โWe must continue to remember.โ
๐ธ Charmaine Papertalk Green at the Greenough River, Eradu, her birthplace, July 2021. Photo shared by Charmaine Papertalk Green via Facebook.
