Nayuka Gorrie
Nayuka Gorrie is an Australian actor, writer and indigenous rights activist. Gorrie uses the pronouns "they/them."[1]
Background
Gorrie identifies as Kurnai(Gunai), Gunditjmara, Scottish, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta.[2][3][4]
Their work has been described as exploring "black, queer and feminist politics,"[5] satire,[6] and blerd ("black plus nerd") culture.[7]
In 2018, they were named as a Wheeler Centre Next Chapter recipient[8].
Television
In 2018, Gorrie wrote and performed in Season Three of ABC sketch comedy series Black Comedy[9]; and has co-written episodes of Get Krack!n[10].
Gorrie is a co-writer of five-part children’s television series Thalu, which has been described as " as much an action-packed adventure as it is a celebration of the Pilbara region and its Indigenous culture"[11].
Q&A controversy
In November 2019 Gorrie appeared on an episode of the ABC TV show Q&A that was aired in conjunction with Broadside Feminost Ideas Festival, along with Mona Eltahawy, Jess Hill, Ashton Applewhite, and Hana Assafiri. Gorrie called for the police to be abolished, stating it is "there to be violent, it is patriarchal, it is overwhelmingly white". Gorrie subsequently observed "I wonder what our kind of tipping point in Australia's going to be when people will start burning stuff? I look forward to it", and said that violence was an appropriate response to colonisation. Later in the episode Gorrie said that "I was scared, what if I raised a cis straight man, what am I going to do?" after finding out they were pregnant with twins.[12]
The episode was later controversially pulled from steaming service iView[13] after receiving a number of complaints about the episode[14]. The ABC launched an investigation into whether its editorial standards were breached[15], and later announced "ABC management's decision to remove the episode from iView and cancel planned repeat broadcasts was sufficient action to resolve those complaints"[14].
Writing
Gorrie is a freelance writer for The Guardian Australia[3], and have written for NITV[16], VICE[17], Junkee[18], the Saturday Paper[19], the Lifted Brow[20], Kill Your Darlings[10] and Archer Magazine[21]. Their writing has covered topics such as the need for a treaty rather than constitutional recognition of Indigenous people in Australia[22][23]; a critique of white feminism[24]; racism within the criminal justice system and in society[25][26], and the Don't Kill Live Music protest[27]
They contributed to the anthology Growing up Queer in Australia[28], Queerstories[29] and Going Postal: More than Yes or No[30]. In 2019 Gorrie will be finalising a book of essays exploring "contemporary colonialism"[30].
Gorrie has appeared at the Creative State Summit in 2019[30], Broadside Feminist Ideas Festival in 2019[2], and the Emerging Writer's Festival in 2019[31]. They will be appearing at the Melbourne Writer's Festival in August 2020[1].
References
- "Melbourne Writers Festival - Nayuka Gorrie". Melbourne Writers Festival. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "Event – Nayuka Gorrie". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie | The Guardian". the Guardian. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Pop culture in the US and Australia". Radio National. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". Q&A. 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Dear Sunrise: Some alternative pitches for the Hot Topics segment". NITV. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
- Francis, Hannah (2016-11-23). "The rise of black nerd (blerd) culture: Why comics and sci-fi aren't just for pasty white guys". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- ABC (2018-09-14). ""Comedy makes us all braver"". ABC Radio National. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". Kill Your Darlings. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "NITV and ABC Children's jointly commission live-action series 'Thalu'". IF Magazine. 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
- McMahon, Neil (2019-11-04). "Q&A was raw, rude and radical, and came with a language warning". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- "ABC Is Under Fire For Pulling An Episode of 'Q&A' After Complaints It "Endorsed Violence"". Junkee. 2019-11-08. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- Carmody, Broede (2019-12-11). "Q&A investigation over 'radical views' complaints ends". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- Blackiston, Hannah (2019-11-07). "ABC launches investigation into Q&A after 'openly feminist' Broadside episode". Mumbrella. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- "Being black and queer in Australia right now". NITV. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". Vice. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie, Author at Junkee". Junkee. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". The Saturday Paper. 2017-05-27. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "'Thick: An Interview with Tressie McMillan Cottom', by Nayuka Gorrie". The Lifted Brow. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Aboriginal families: Beyond flesh and blood". Archer Magazine. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- Lateline (2016-04-27). "Why constitutional recognition is like a bad housemate". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- Gorrie, Nayuka (2016-03-17). "Fuck Your Constitutional Recognition, I Want a Treaty". Vice. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "White Victims And Black Monsters: Why I Have No Time For Becky Feminism". Junkee. 2016-09-13. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- "On Black Rage, New Funerals, And The Exhausting Resilience Of Our Mob". Junkee. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- Gorrie, Nayuka (2017-08-07). "What We Mean When We Talk About 'Ending White Supremacy'". Vice. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- Gorrie, Nayuka (2019-02-27). "Protests such as Don't Kill Live Music seem to represent white self-interest | Nayuka Gorrie". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- Growing Up Queer in Australia by Benjamin Law. 2019-02-12.
- "Queerstories – Maeve Marsden". Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". Creative State Summit - Victoria's Creative Industries summit. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- "Nayuka Gorrie". Emerging Writers' Festival. Retrieved 2020-01-05.