About the author

Maxine Beneba Clarke


About the book


Judges' report


The Hate Race is an important account of growing up in suburban Australia during the 1980s and 1990s. Many of the routines of a suburban childhood will be immediately recognisable to readers, except that the colour of Maxine Beneba Clarke’s skin makes her the target for an astonishing level of discrimination. The combination of a familiar Australian childhood and a world of bullying, ostracism and casual racism is necessarily shocking, transforming this memoir into a significant indictment of cultural complacency. The Hate Race is a moving memoir of national significance, grounded in a tradition of Afro-Caribbean storytelling that recognises the importance of the personal account: “This is how I tell it, or else what’s a story for.”

Further reading


Reviews:

‘Clarke is an accomplished poet and writes with a poet’s rhythms. The book is woven with powerful refrains that act like waves, picking the reader up and casting them back again: “This is how it changes us. This is how we’re altered.” Taken alone, every chapter of The Hate Race burns, but the collective weight of the book is an excoriating indictment of a culture in which such experiences are unexceptional … There is a tendency to talk about a young author such as Clarke as a “writer to watch” with the expectation that she may, one day, achieve the extraordinary. With The Hate Race, she already has; don’t watch, watch out.’ Beejay Silcox, The Australian

‘The Hate Race is a profound, intelligent and deeply personal exploration of how racism damages and changes its victims … Clarke’s book is utterly compelling. And it might just break your heart.’ Nicole Abadee, The Australian Financial Review

‘With force and grace, by stealth and shock, The Hate Race makes its point, gets under the reader’s skin.’ FL, The Saturday Paper

You can’t read this book and not be affected by it; you can’t read this book and not be astounded by the force of its writing. It will be something you want to discuss with your friends, with your world.’ Mark Rubbo, Readings

‘Maxine Beneba Clarke’s memoir is likely to precipitate the kind of conversations about racism that Australia badly needs.’ Brenda Walker, The Monthly

‘Maxine Beneba Clarke offers an unflinching portrayal of the impact of racism, and transcends form in turning a lens on Australian society. ‘ Catherine Noske, Australian Book Review

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