Kaye Aldenhoven is an Australian poet and teacher.

Biography

In 1971, Kaye Aldenhoven moved from

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

to Umbakumba on

Groote Eylandt Groote Eylandt ( Anindilyakwa: ''Ayangkidarrba''; meaning "island" ) is the largest island in the Gulf of Carpentaria and the fourth largest island in Australia. It was named by the explorer Abel Tasman in 1644 and is Dutch for "large island" ...

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. She then lived and taught at

Yuendumu Yuendumu is a town in the Northern Territory of Australia, northwest of Alice Springs on the Tanami Road, within the Central Desert Region local government area. It ranks as one of the larger remote communities in central Australia, and has a ...

Amoonguna Amoonguna or Imengkwerne is a community in Rodinga Ward of the MacDonnell Region in the Northern Territory of Australia, southeast of Alice Springs. The community features in the 2022 SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is ...

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

, Darwin,

Jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has also been reported in Mississippi, Oklahoma ...

and was Principal of all three NT Area Schools (at Jabiru in Kakadu, Alyangula on Groote Eylandt and Batchelor). These moves were important for the direction of her work. Her first book, ''In My Husband's Country'', was a clear and deft response to country in a way that is peculiarly Territorian, as is her involvement in cross-art performances of poetry, dance ritual, and textiles. In 1992 and 2009 she won the Northern Territory Red Earth Literary Award. She has edited a number of anthologies and was included in artist's book/anthology ''Terra Australis'' edited by

Chris Mansell Chris Mansell (born 1953) is an Australian poet and publisher. Born in Sydney, Chris Mansell grew up on the Central Coast of New South Wales and in Lae, Papua New Guinea, later studying economics at the University of Sydney The University ...

with work by artist Tommaso Durante. Her chapbook, ''Skin'' (PressPress, 2004) extends Aldenhoven's engagement with (and explores the conundrum of) living in country. This is an important theme in non-metropolitan Australian poetry which is not much taken up in the urbanised fringes. Poetically, Aldenhoven eschews overtly decorative language and aims for a clear and clarifying diction to illuminate her themes.

Bibliography

* ''In My Husband's Country'' (2001) * ''Skin'' (2004) * ''A Story Changes Each Time It Is Told: An Anthology from the Northern Territory by Palmerston's Own Writers'' (2011) edited with Adele Barry * ''Botanica Erotica'' (2012)

References

External links

6 poems
at ''Thylazine''
Review of ''Skin''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldenhoven, Kaye Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women poets Living people People from the Northern Territory 21st-century Australian women educators Australian non-fiction writers Australian schoolteachers