Maxine Beneba Clarke is one of Australia’s most celebrated poets. She is the author of over fourteen books, including the bestselling memoir The Hate Race, the ABIA and Indie award-winning short fiction collection Foreign Soil, the Victorian Premier’s Award-winning poetry collection Carrying the World, the ABIA award-winning poetry collection It’s the Sound of the Thing, the Kate Greenaway Medal longlisted illustrated poem When We Say Black Lives Matter and the CBCA honour book The Patchwork Bike, which also won the Boston Globe Horn Prize for Best Picture Book. She is currently the inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence at The University of Melbourne.