Bebe Backhouse-Oliver

Bebe Backhouse-Oliver is a descendant of the Bardi Jawi people of the Kimberley region of north-Western Australia, and an award-winning writer who’s called Naarm home for many years.

A leader in designing high-profile programs and strategic projects for diverse communities, he is Co-Chairperson of Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival, and a Board Director of Magabala Books, Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house.

A writer, poet, illustrator, speaker, and facilitator living on the unceded land of the Kulin peoples, Bebe's works encompass love, loss, identity, Aboriginal and gay existence, place, and Country.

Bebe’s debut solo poetry collection is more than these bones (Magabala, 2023).

Bebe Backhouse-Oliver reviews 'The Body Country' by Susie Anderson

October 2023, no. 458 • 24 September 2023

There is no denying the power of poetry as thoughtful story-telling, a form of expression free from rules, conventions. It allows a safe environment for experimentation, free from the confines of traditionalism. Portraits in words, detailing the ride of life and thoughts of the mind are painted onto the canvas, where the placement of verses on a page can matter as much as the choices of words them ... (read more)