“For his outstanding contribution to literature, his achievements as a writer, playwright and poet and for his work that has brought a greater understanding of Aboriginal culture to the wider community.”

A prominent playwright and poet who expresses the richness and diversity of Indigenous culture, Jack Davis has been described as the most public voice in Aboriginal literature. His work cuts across language, generation and racial barriers to present the multifaceted issues of Aboriginality in a very accessible way.

Jack Davis was born in 1917 and grew up in Yarloop, a small timber town south of Perth. He was one of eleven children and spoke English as his first language. As a boy he had a vivid imagination and an interest in words and writing.

In some ways, it may seem that I did not have the necessary characteristics to become a poet and playwright. Neither of my parents could read or write. My life has been spent amongst people generally lacking in a written tradition. Yet from an early age I have had a love of words. I have led an active and adventurous life. I have had access to rich and varied cultural experiences, having been fortunate enough to have my feet in two worlds, Anglo-Saxon and Aboriginal. Because of that I have been inspired to nourish and develop my abilities.

When Jack was fourteen years old he was sent to receive an agricultural education at Moore River, a Government Aboriginal settlement. He, in fact, received no such education but experienced the harsh state of Aboriginal affairs in Western Australia at the time. He says, "the short period that I spent there was an experience both deep and indelible" The humour and spirit of the Aboriginal people were his only solace in the grim conditions of the Settlement.

After the death of his father, Jack moved to Brookton, a small wheat town in the Great Southern district. Here he learnt the language and the culture of his people, the Nyoongar of the south-west of Western Australia. Much of Jack's education came through the story-telling of his stepfather, Bert Bennell.

Later, Jack worked as a stockman, labourer and truck driver in various parts of Western Australia, including Williambury Station in the north-west of Western Australia. During this time, he wrote continuously, often on old lunch papers. Jack had his first book of poetry The First Born published in 1968.

While working throughout regional Western Australia, Jack's empathy for the situation of Aboriginal people grew. He worked for a time as an Aboriginal welfare worker and became involved in the struggle for Aboriginal land rights and equality. In 1971 he became the first chairman of the Aboriginal Lands Trust in Western Australia. Between 1972-1977 he was manag- ing editor of the Aboriginal Publications Foundation. He also established a course for Aboriginal writers at Murdoch University. Between 1980 and 1984 he served as president of the Aboriginal Writers and Dramatists Association. 

Jack's first full-length play, Kullark, was presented in 1979 to critical acclaim. The play documents the history of the Nyoongar people in Western Australia through dialogue, poetry, song, music, dance and pantomime. The Dreamers followed in 1983, and then No Sugar. Both of these plays are based on Jack's experiences of the Moore River Settlement. The Dreamers toured extensively around Australia. No Sugar premiered in 1985 at the Festival of Perth and was performed by The Playhouse Company. It was then performed in Vancouver during the World Theatre Festival in 1986. Jack himself performed in this production to sell-out shows and received standing ovations. No Sugar was awarded the Writers Guild Award for the best stage play of 1986. Jack's other plays include Honey Spot (1985), a children's play dealing with the issue of racial prejudice, and Barungin (Smell the Wind) (1988). Barungin looks at the issue of Aboriginal deaths in custody, and has been presented at the Perth and Adelaide arts festivals.

Jack Davis's poems and plays have been influential in increasing the understanding of Aboriginal culture by non-Indigenous Australians. He successfully fuses Aboriginal oral tradition with Western dramatic forms. His work "suggests the potential for Aboriginal culture to enrich and modify white experience, rather than painting the more usual picture of Aboriginal culture being subsumed and ultimately destroyed by the majority culture." 

Jack is a calm, sensitive and philosophical individual. He is acutely aware of the power of the written word in the creation and destruction of lives. Through telling his story he reconceptualises the notion of Australian history. His autobiography, A Boy's Life, documents the tragic reality of rural Australia in the twenties and thirties. By documenting the Nyoongar language and history, he keeps alive stories and traditions which may otherwise be lost. For many years Jack worked on recording the Nyoongar language. As Jack tells his story, he also inspires and encourages others to do the same. A Boy's Life concludes: "It is here that my family and I leave you, and in presenting the triumphs and tragedies of our lives, I hope it will inspire others to write of their lives as I have done." Jack's experience of human tragedy underlies his compassion, his humour and his wisdom.

Jack Davis received the British Empire Medal in 1977 for his contribution to Australian literature. In 1985 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his contribution to Australian theatre and in the same year received the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for his contribution to the arts. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from both Murdoch University and the University of Western Australia and in 1988 was elected Citizen of the Year in Western Australia. He also served as a member of the Aboriginal Arts Board of the Australia Council. In 1989, he was granted an Artistic Endowment Award in recognition of his contribution to the arts of Australia.

Reference; Chesson, Keith, Jack Davis: A Life-Story, Dent Australia, 1988, p5. ibid, p38. Turcotte, Gerry (ed), Jack Davis: The Maker of History, Angus & Robertson Sydney, 1994 p8. Jack Davis, A Boy's Life, Magabala Books Aboriginal Corporation, Broome, Western Australia, 1991, p142.