Joella Warkill
Joella Warkill is a proud South Sea Islander and First Nations woman. Joella's great grandparents were taken from Pentecost Island and Ambrym Island in Vanuatu as kids. Born and raised on Darumbal country, Joella has connections to Kanaka Town in Rockhampton and Joskeleigh, and her mob are the Yidinji people from Far North Queensland through her maternal grandfather.
Joella's poetry has allowed her to take up spaces including Queensland Museum, Institute of Modern Art, a Parliamentary Hearing, 2018 Commonwealth Games whilst being published online in SBS, Fern Collective and Hey Neighbour. Further accomplishments include completing her Bachelor of Human Services/Bachelor of Creative Industries (majoring in Creative Writing) in 2023. She is passionate about using poetry as a medium to continue telling the stories of those who come before her.
Artist statement
In this piece of poetry Joella tells the story of her maternal grandmother, her ‘Tuta’. Her ‘Tuta’ is a first-generation Australian South Sea Islander woman who lives to pass on the stories of her time as a young woman working throughout Queensland and experiencing survival through the employment of European families. Here, poetry interferes with cultural taboos and creates a safe space between a grandmother and her granddaughter. In this poem, you’re hearing intergenerational learning, healing, and growing.