Thursday, June 4, 2026

메조소프라노 디니스 그레이브스 은퇴 관련 인터뷰 - YouTube

Opera singer Denyce Graves takes her final bow on stage - YouTube

Opera singer Denyce Graves takes her final bow on stage
PBS NewsHour
75,399 views  Feb 11, 2026

After singing on the world’s top opera stages for more than 40 years, acclaimed mezzo soprano Denyce Graves took a final bow last month and is pivoting to teaching the next generation. Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown joined Graves in the days leading up to her farewell for our arts and culture series, CANVAS.
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세진님, 요청하신 PBS 뉴스아워의 메조소프라노 디니스 그레이브스 은퇴 관련 인터뷰 영상에 대한 요점과 평론을 정리해 드립니다.

본문은 요청하신 지침에 따라 요약과 평론 부분 모두 <해라>체로 작성했으며, 별표 기호는 모두 제거하거나 < >로 대체하였습니다.

요점 요약

  • 은퇴와 새로운 출발: 세계적인 메조소프라노 디니스 그레이브스(Denyce Graves)가 40년 이상의 무대 커리어를 마감하고 은퇴를 선언했다. 그는 뉴욕 메트로폴리탄 오페라하우스에서의 마지막 공연을 마쳤으며, 향후 후학 양성에 집중할 계획이다.

  • 오페라 가수의 삶과 은퇴의 무게: 그레이브스는 오페라계가 무대에 서는 법만 가르칠 뿐, 우아하게 물러나는 법에 대해서는 알려주지 않는다고 지적했다. 61세의 나이에 스스로 은퇴를 결정한 그는 자신의 몸이 곧 악기가 되는 성악의 특성상 육체적, 정신적 요구와 절제가 엄청났음을 회고했다.

  • 인종적 장벽과 역경 극복: 워싱턴 D.C.의 가난한 환경에서 자란 그는 흑인 여성으로서 백인 중심의 오페라 문화에서 겪은 소외감과 차별을 고백했다. 한 유명 오페라하우스의 감독으로부터 <흑인은 백인 배역에 어울리지 않는다>라는 이유로 고용을 거부당했던 일화를 밝히기도 했다.

  • 향후 계획과 유산: 그레이브스는 자신의 재단을 통해 흑인 역사대학(HBCU)을 포함한 차세대 성악가 멘토링에 힘쓸 예정이다. 또한, 미국 최초의 흑인 오페라단이 사용했던 피츠버그의 <국립 흑인 오페라하우스> 전 가옥을 복원하는 역사적 보존 작업과 오페라 연출가로서의 새로운 도전을 준비하고 있다.

평론

디니스 그레이브스의 은퇴는 단순히 한 위대한 성악가의 퇴장을 넘어, 클래식 예술계에서 소수자가 자신의 정체성을 지키며 정상에 오르고 또 어떻게 아름답게 영토를 확장해 나가는지 보여주는 기념비적인 이정표이다.

오페라 예술은 오랜 시간 서구 백인 남성 중심의 전통 속에서 고착화되어 왔다. 그레이브스가 회고한 <작품 속 인물과 어울리지 않는다>라는 감독의 발언은, 예술적 개연성이라는 미명 하에 자행된 인종적 편견의 단면을 적나라하게 드러낸다. 그러나 그는 이러한 구조적 한계를 특유의 열정과 실력으로 돌파했으며, 대표작인 <카르멘>을 통해 무대 위에서 독보적인 존재감을 증명해 냈다.

그의 은퇴가 특히 감동을 주는 이유는 두 가지 지점 때문이다. 첫째는 무대의 중심인 <첫 번째 분장실>에서 물러나 <마지막 분장실>에 이르는 과정을 쇠락이 아닌, 스스로 결정한 존엄한 마무리의 여정으로 받아들였다는 점이다. 무대 위에서 아름답게 내려오는 법을 아는 예술가의 태도는 깊은 울림을 준다.

둘째는 그의 은퇴가 예술적 단절이 아니라 확장을 의미한다는 점이다. 그는 무대 뒤로 물러나는 대신, 과거의 장벽을 허무는 제도적 기반(재단 설립)과 역사적 기억의 복원(국립 흑인 오페라하우스 보존)으로 시선을 돌렸다. 자신이 겪었던 소외를 차세대 성악가들이 반복하지 않도록 도우려는 그의 행보는, 예술가가 사회에 남길 수 있는 가장 고결한 형태의 유산이다. 디니스 그레이브스는 무대 위 최고의 메조소프라노였을 뿐만 아니라, 무대 밖에서도 클래식 지형을 바꾼 위대한 연대자이자 개척자로 기억될 것이다.


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<Opera singer Denyce Graves takes her final bow on stage>는 미국 PBS NewsHour가 2026년 2월 11일 공개한 영상 전사본이다. 세계 주요 오페라 무대에서 40년 넘게 활동한 메조소프라노 데니스 그레이브스가 61세에 마지막 무대 인사를 하고, 이후 후진 양성과 오페라 연출, 흑인 오페라 역사 보존 활동으로 삶의 방향을 옮기는 장면을 다룬다.

<요점>

이 영상의 중심 주제는 “어떻게 성공할 것인가”가 아니라 “언제, 어떻게 물러날 것인가”이다. 그레이브스는 오페라계에서 세계적 명성을 얻은 인물이지만, 영상은 그녀의 영광보다 은퇴의 윤리를 더 강조한다. 그녀는 오페라 가수의 삶이 목소리만의 문제가 아니라 몸 전체, 감정, 훈련, 희생, 자기 절제를 요구하는 일이라고 말한다. “Everything that you do affects what happens because you are the instrument”라는 말이 핵심이다. 오페라 가수에게 몸은 악기이며, 삶 전체가 예술의 조건이 된다.

그레이브스는 마지막 무대를 “패배”나 “쇠퇴”로 받아들이지 않는다. 오히려 “이제 때가 되었다”고 말한다. 마지막 공연 뒤에는 누군가가 마티니를 건네주면 좋겠다고 농담하는 장면도 나오는데, 이는 은퇴를 비극이 아니라 완성으로 받아들이는 태도를 보여준다. 그녀는 자신이 맡고 싶었던 역할들을 대부분 했고, 무대 위에서 다음 세대가 자라나는 것을 본다고 말한다. 따라서 그녀의 은퇴는 단절이 아니라 전승의 한 장면이다.

영상은 또 다른 중요한 축으로 인종과 대표성의 문제를 다룬다. 그레이브스는 워싱턴 D.C.의 소박한 환경에서 자랐고, 학교에서 만난 교사 Judith Grove Allen의 도움을 받았다. 그녀는 고등학교 시절 녹음으로 들은 전설적 흑인 소프라노의 목소리와 모습에서 “나도 저렇게 하고 싶다”는 결심을 얻었다. 여기서 예술적 소명은 추상적 재능이 아니라, “나와 비슷한 사람이 저 무대에 있다”는 발견에서 시작된다.

그러나 오페라계는 그녀에게 쉽게 문을 열어주지 않았다. 그녀는 백인 유럽 인물을 연기할 때 “너는 그 역할에 믿음직하지 않다”는 말을 들었다고 회상한다. 어떤 연출자는 그녀에게 “99%의 역할에 너를 고용하지 않겠다”고 말했다. 이유는 노래 실력이 아니라 피부색과 무대 위 신체 이미지였다. 즉, 오페라라는 예술 세계는 보편적 아름다움과 인간 감정을 노래한다고 말하면서도, 실제로는 오랫동안 백인 유럽 중심의 상상력 안에 갇혀 있었다.

그레이브스의 이후 활동은 이 구조를 바꾸는 방향으로 향한다. 그녀는 재단을 통해 젊은 가수들, 특히 역사적으로 흑인 대학과 대학원 출신 학생들을 훈련하고 멘토링한다. 또한 피츠버그에 있던 National Negro Opera House의 복원 활동에도 참여한다. 그 건물은 흑인 여성 오페라 선구자인 Mary Cardwell Dawson과 관련된 공간으로, 그레이브스는 그녀를 “숨겨진 위대한 인물”로 부른다. 다시 말해 그레이브스의 은퇴 이후 삶은 개인적 휴식이 아니라, 지워진 흑인 오페라 역사를 회복하고 다음 세대의 길을 넓히는 일이다.

<평론>

이 영상의 가장 좋은 점은 은퇴를 단순한 “커리어의 끝”으로 다루지 않는다는 데 있다. 보통 예술가 은퇴 보도는 화려한 경력, 감동적 마지막 박수, 과거 업적 회고에 머문다. 그러나 이 영상은 한 걸음 더 들어간다. 어떻게 무대에 오르는가만큼이나 어떻게 내려오는가도 예술가의 중요한 판단이라는 점을 보여준다. 특히 오페라처럼 몸과 목소리가 직접 악기가 되는 예술에서는 은퇴 시점이 윤리적 결정이기도 하다. 늦게까지 버티는 것이 항상 용기는 아니다. 자기 몸과 예술의 품격을 알고 물러나는 것도 하나의 성숙이다.

또 하나 중요한 점은 그레이브스의 이야기가 개인 성공담으로만 소비되지 않는다는 것이다. 그녀는 “가난한 환경에서 태어나 노력으로 성공한 흑인 여성”이라는 미국식 영웅 서사로 쉽게 포장될 수 있다. 그러나 영상은 그런 단순한 성공담을 넘어서, 그녀가 마주한 제도적 장벽을 분명히 보여준다. 그녀가 백인 유럽 인물을 연기할 수 없다는 말은 단순한 개인적 편견이 아니라, 서구 고전예술이 오랫동안 자신을 “보편”이라고 부르면서 실제로는 특정 인종적 신체를 표준으로 삼아왔음을 드러낸다.

이 점에서 그레이브스의 존재는 두 겹의 의미를 갖는다. 하나는 탁월한 예술가로서의 의미이고, 다른 하나는 무대 위 신체의 정치성을 바꾼 인물로서의 의미이다. 그녀가 카르멘으로 유명해졌다는 사실도 흥미롭다. 카르멘은 열정적이고 관능적이며 위험한 여성으로 자주 해석되어온 역할이다. 흑인 여성 가수가 이 역할로 세계적 명성을 얻을 때, 그것은 한편으로 기존의 인종화된 여성 이미지와 위험하게 겹칠 수도 있다. 그러나 동시에 그녀는 그 역할을 자기 예술적 힘으로 장악함으로써, 흑인 여성 신체를 주변적 존재가 아니라 무대 중심의 해석 주체로 만든다.

이 영상의 아쉬운 점은 오페라계의 구조적 차별을 더 깊이 분석하지는 않는다는 것이다. PBS의 짧은 문화 보도 형식이기 때문에 당연한 한계이지만, 그레이브스가 겪은 인종적 배제의 역사를 더 넓은 제도사와 연결했더라면 더 강한 작품이 되었을 것이다. 예컨대 메트로폴리탄 오페라, 유럽 오페라 하우스, 음악 교육기관, 캐스팅 관행 속에서 흑인 성악가들이 어떤 방식으로 받아들여지고 제한되었는지까지 보여주었다면, 개인 인터뷰 이상의 역사적 깊이가 생겼을 것이다.

그럼에도 이 영상은 짧지만 울림이 있다. 그레이브스의 마지막 인사는 단순히 한 가수의 퇴장이 아니다. 그것은 한 세대가 무대에서 내려오며 다음 세대에게 공간을 내어주는 장면이다. 그녀가 “무대 위에서 다른 세대를 본다”고 말하는 대목은 특히 중요하다. 성공한 예술가가 자신의 존재를 정점으로 보지 않고, 자신 이후에 올 사람들을 바라볼 때, 은퇴는 사라짐이 아니라 길을 넘겨주는 행위가 된다.

결국 이 영상의 핵심은 다음과 같이 정리할 수 있다.

<데니스 그레이브스의 마지막 무대는 한 예술가의 끝이 아니라, 흑인 여성 오페라 역사의 다음 장을 여는 통과의례다.>

그녀는 노래를 멈추지만, 목소리를 잃는 것은 아니다. 오히려 이제 그녀의 목소리는 교육, 기억, 역사 복원, 후진 양성이라는 다른 형식으로 계속된다. 이 점에서 이 영상은 예술가의 은퇴를 가장 아름답게 해석하는 방식 하나를 보여준다.


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Transcript

0:022 secondsmna: After more than four decades on the world's top opera stages, acclaimed mezzo-soprano denyce graves took her final bow
0:1111 secondsrecently and is now devoting herself to teaching the next generation.
0:1313 secondsSenior arts correspondent Jeffrey brown joined graves in the days leading up to her farewell for our arts and culture series, canvas.
0:2323 seconds♪♪ effrey: In opera, denyce graves
0:3636 secondssays there is enormous focus on how to make it. But not so much on how or when to leave it.
0:4444 seconds♪♪ denyce: With all the preparation and all of her attention
0:5252 secondscentered around, what does it take to actually get into the world's greatest opera house? What does that require?
1:011 minute, 1 secondWhen you are there, when is it time after you've done that?
1:061 minute, 6 secondsIf you are lucky, when is it time to bow out gracefully?
1:111 minute, 11 secondsJeffrey: Not a lot of guidance for that.now, she has done just that with a final series of performances.
1:221 minute, 22 secondsReprising a role in a production first presented in 2019 at the metropolitan opera, one of the grandest stages of all.
1:331 minute, 33 secondsIt was a supporting, not storing arring role, just days before
1:401 minute, 40 secondsfinal time on stage came with implications behind the scenes.
1:431 minute, 43 secondsDenyce: When I started here, I had the first dressing room, right? Now, it is the last one.
1:521 minute, 52 secondsThere is nothing else after it.
1:551 minute, 55 secondsThere is no other dressing room after that one. It is the end of the line. Jeffrey: So it is time? Denyce: It's time.
2:022 minutes, 2 secondsJeffrey: At 61, she is doing it on her terms.
2:082 minutes, 8 secondsPublicly announced in a New York Times essay.
2:092 minutes, 9 secondsIt is not about dressing rooms but as much is about the extraordinary physical and emotional demands of her profession.
2:172 minutes, 17 secondsDenyce: It is very unnatural what it is we do.
2:222 minutes, 22 secondsThe amount of discipline, training, sacrifice that it takes.
2:272 minutes, 27 secondsIt is one that asks for your entire being.
2:302 minutes, 30 secondsEverything that you do affects what happens because you are the instrument.
2:352 minutes, 35 secondsJeffrey: Perhaps her best known role was the fiery sensual Carmen.
2:422 minutes, 42 seconds♪♪ she told us of being a shy and awkward child growing up in what
2:492 minutes, 49 secondsshe called humble surroundings in Washington, D.C.
2:542 minutes, 54 secondsAmong her guardian angels, Judith grove Allen, a teacher she met in grade school who taught and encouraged her to
3:023 minutes, 2 secondsattend the duke Ellington school of the arts.
3:053 minutes, 5 secondsThey remain in regular contact to this day.
3:073 minutes, 7 secondsAmong her role models, legendary soprano whom graves first encountered in high school listening to recordings.
3:153 minutes, 15 secondsDenyce: I discovered this artform and said what is this?
3:213 minutes, 21 secondsI never heard anything like that before.
3:233 minutes, 23 secondsI saw this woman that looked like me and I said what is this?
3:263 minutes, 26 secondsI said that is what I want to do.
3:293 minutes, 29 secondsI want to do whatever it is she's doing.
3:313 minutes, 31 secondsJeffrey: To make it, it must require drive, ambition? Denyce: You better believe it.
3:373 minutes, 37 secondsJeffrey: Those came with doubts and anxieties and fears along the way?
3:423 minutes, 42 secondsDenyce: A fire has to be ignited inside of you somewhere and you have to believe you have something unusual to offer.
3:503 minutes, 50 secondsJeffrey: In the New York Times piece, you said as a black woman, you write as the
3:573 minutes, 57 secondsdifficulties of pursuing life in a culture that often seemed foreign to me or saw me as far into it. Denyce: Absolutely.
4:064 minutes, 6 secondsI remember looking once at a production photo of myself on stage with my colleagues, and how different I was from everyone else.
4:144 minutes, 14 secondsSome directors would say to me there's no way you will be believable in this character.
4:204 minutes, 20 secondsJeffrey: A white European character.
4:234 minutes, 23 secondsDenyce: I can say these things now, I guess, maybe.
4:284 minutes, 28 secondsBut I had the director, one of the world's greatest opera houses said to me, there's no
4:354 minutes, 35 secondsway I would hire you for 99% of the roles because you would not be believable.
4:414 minutes, 41 secondsWe are talking about mozart, which I would sing.
4:454 minutes, 45 secondsHe said, nobody would believe you as a sister.
4:504 minutes, 50 secondsI said, well, I could be adopted or she could be adopted.
4:564 minutes, 56 secondsJeffrey: She says the world of opera has changed a lot in terms of the stories being told and greater representation on stage.
5:065 minutes, 6 secondsThat has been part of her work with her foundation, which she will now devote much of her time.
5:105 minutes, 10 seconds♪♪ the focus on training and mentoring new generation of
5:205 minutes, 20 secondssingers, including historically black colleges and universities.
5:235 minutes, 23 secondsThe other focus is helping to preserve history as an advocate for the restoration of former national Negro opera house in Pittsburgh, once owned through
5:325 minutes, 32 secondsan organization started by singer Barry Caldwell Dawson, who decided to start her own opera company.
5:415 minutes, 41 secondsDenyce: I was so moved by her and her story that I didn't learn about her.
5:475 minutes, 47 secondsShe's a great hidden figure who really changed the shape of the landscape of this profession.
5:575 minutes, 57 seconds>> The very best sense of the word. >> Oh!
6:016 minutes, 1 secondJeffrey: Graves is leaving behind legions of colleagues, including the costume and wig
6:096 minutes, 9 secondsshop looks forward to continuing to coach singers and a new pursuit, direct operas.
6:156 minutes, 15 secondsOn January 24, it was time for a final performance as a singer and the on stage celebration.
6:226 minutes, 22 secondsDenyce: I'm incredibly grateful, I feel incredibly fulfilled.
6:286 minutes, 28 secondsI did many of the roles I wanted to do.
6:316 minutes, 31 secondsWhen I look around me on the stage, I see another generation.
6:346 minutes, 34 secondsJeffrey: Days before, she told us of one demand.
6:406 minutes, 40 secondsFollowing years of self-discipline to protect her voice and body.
6:436 minutes, 43 secondsDenyce: After I finished that performance, somebody better hand me a dirty martini.
6:496 minutes, 49 secondsThat is what I am looking forward to. That will really be the end.
6:526 minutes, 52 seconds♪♪ Jeffrey: For the pbs news hour,
7:027 minutes, 2 secondsI'm Jeffrey brown at the metropolitan opera in New York.
7:057 minutes, 5 seconds♪♪
7:147 minutes, 14 seconds[applause]
====

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Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Social cohesion cannot be built by exceptionalising antisemitism | Pearls and Irritations

Social cohesion cannot be built by exceptionalising antisemitism | Pearls and Irritations




Jepke Goudsmit
Social cohesion cannot be built by exceptionalising antisemitism

June 3, 2026

A submission to the Royal Commission argues that privileging antisemitism above other forms of racism, while suppressing criticism of Israel and Zionism, undermines freedom of expression and weakens social cohesion.

I have long hesitated writing a submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion because of its singular focus on antisemitism. I would have liked an investigation into the root causes and persistence of every type of racism in this country. Exceptionalising antisemitism is a form of racism in itself.

I am also unhappy with the Commission’s adoption of the contested IRHA definition of antisemitism. Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, made the preposterous claim that the March for Humanity paved the way for the Bondi Massacre.

I suspect that the objectives of prominent Zionists, like Segal, who pushed for this Commission, could well be to suppress criticism of Israel, ban Palestine protests and introduce censorship.

I identify as an anti-Zionist secular Jew. My Dutch childhood was deeply affected by my parents’ experiences surviving World War II. After Holland’s liberation they sought healing and reconciliation, not revenge. When I was in my teens, my father went to Tel Aviv to visit our family who had suggested we consider migrating to Israel. He returned shocked. He could never become a citizen of an apartheid state.

Whether such a state deserves unconditional support from Jews anywhere in the world became highly questionable. As for me, working in a kibbutz lost its attraction when it sunk in that Israel was stolen land, and that the notion of “a land without a people for a people without a land” turned out to be a manufactured fantasy.

Fast-Forward to October 2023, when Israel unleashed its genocidal war on the people of illegally occupied Gaza. My anti-colonialism translated into intense activism. I became a member of Jews Against the Occupation ’48 (JAO48), regarding it my moral duty to show through direct action that “Never Again” means to anyone.

As an artist, my work is sustained by inquiry and freedom of expression. When a government censors the arts, a society is at risk of losing its heart. I mention this, because since October 2023 a number of Australian artists have been falsely accused of antisemitism. As a consequence, their contracted engagements were cancelled.

To name just a few: Lebanese-born Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi (the 61st Venice Biennale scandal), Palestinian Australian writer and academic Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah (Adelaide Writers Festival debacle) and Australian concert pianist Jayson Gillham (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra court challenge).

Australia’s artistic – and wider – community recognises the accusations as intimidatory, as an attack on freedom of artistic expression and speech. Solidarity with those under attack is widespread due to the insight that censorship should have no place in a democracy and severely undermines social cohesion.

It is especially detrimental if one group is favoured above all others, and another is demonised more than the rest. This breeds negative qualities every society should avoid: fear, jealousy, suspicion, hatred, divisiveness and alienation.

I expected that the horrors committed by Israel in Gaza would take the blinkers off.

It did so for many people around the world. A global community grew, advocating for the end of Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid, suggesting peaceful means to achieve this, such as boycotts, divestments and sanctions, like those implemented against South Africa to free it from apartheid. These are calls for action against a system, an ideology, not a people.

Not so our government, nor the Zionists. They were apologists from the start, and remain so now, even after more than two years of carpet bombing and murder. The most abhorrent atrocities and crimes against humanity have come to light, thanks to reporters who risked and in more than 250 cases lost their lives to show the world the reality of collective punishment, starvation, displacement, incarceration, rape, torture, destruction of civilian infrastructure, ethnic cleansing and a genocide openly declared and incited by Israel’s leaders.

To counter the shift in public opinion about Israel, the apologists of genocide use the conflation of Zionism and Judaism as their most effective weapon. They accuse anyone criticising Israel and standing up for Palestinian rights of antisemitism.

The Australian government has not had the moral backbone or political will to refuse complicity in Israel’s genocide. Australia obeys Washington and buckles under pressure from the Israel lobby. So do media, art institutions and universities. Even after experts, including Jewish Holocaust scholars, have concluded Israel’s war on Gaza constitutes genocide. When political support, reputation and funding are at stake, few have the strength to stick with ethical principles.

I attended most of the pro-Palestine rallies in Gadi/Sydney since October 2023, including the March for Humanity across the Harbour Bridge. If ever there were a model of social cohesion that march would be it.

Never have I experienced antisemitism at the rallies. Not from organisers, not from protesters. But I have experienced it from Jewish Zionists and their far right supporters. This came in the form of threats, insults and intimidation, especially at events organised by JAO48, and online on JAO48’s social media accounts.

A stand-out of their antisemitism against anti-Zionist Jews – and of their anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia – happened at the Origami Flotilla event JAO48 organised in 2025 at Bondi Beach in support of the Global Humanitarian Flotilla to Gaza. The police were unprepared for the violent threat Jewish Zionists and their far-right buddies posed to our peaceful gathering.

Bondi Beach is a public beach belonging to everyone, but the Zionists, clad in Israeli and Australian flags, claimed it as theirs. They hurled verbal abuse at us like “Fake Jew”, “Kapo”, “Traitor”, “Terrorist”, “I hope you all get raped”, “Go back to Lakemba”. The atmosphere was reminiscent of the racial clashes at the Cronulla riots. Things could have easily spiralled out of control.

JAO48 organised silent vigils on International Holocaust Day in 2025 and 2026, for the victims of the Nazi Holocaust as well as the victims of other holocausts: the Aboriginal people of Australia when colonised by Britain, and the indigenous people of Palestine when colonised by Israel. Online comments from Jewish Zionists were vile. The AJA called us “degenerates”.

When well-respected Australians, such as heart surgeon Professor Peter MacDonald, renowned journalist Mary Kostakidis, and Sydney University academics Professor John Keane and Dr Nick Riemer, are the target of Zionist wrath, and politicians give in under Zionist pressure, it sends sinister messages to our citizens: that no one will be spared, and that our government is not serving the interest of Australia, but that of warmongering foreign states: Israel and its enabler the USA.

The men who carried out the massacre on the first day of Chanukah at Bondi Beach had ISIS connections. Within hours after the attack, Israel’s PM accused our PM of pouring “fuel on the antisemitism fire” by having recognised a Palestinian state. Within 24 hours, Chairman of the Zionist AIJAC, Mark Leibler, demanded a Royal Commission. Following with reckless speed, NSW Premier Minns rushed anti-protest laws through, which since have been found unconstitutional, thanks to Blak Caucus, the Palestine Action Group and Jews Against the Occupation ’48 deciding to challenge those laws in court in the interest of civil and democratic rights of the people of NSW (Jarrett vs State of NSW). And to top it off, the Zionist Chabad community pushed for a visit from Israeli President Herzog, a man standing accused of inciting genocide.

Against sound advice from experts like former Human Rights Commissioner Chris Sidoti, Prime Minister Albanese caved in and invited President Herzog to “comfort the Jewish community”. This despite the outpour of empathy and shared grief from people all around Australia.

Australian society responded with a national protest against the visit, unequivocally declaring that war criminals are not welcome here. JAO48 and other anti-Zionist Jewish groups attended in all capital cities. In Sydney, while Herzog was comforting mourners at the Entertainment Centre, police brutality against the protestors at Town Hall was unprecedented. I witnessed it first hand. Fleeing from the chaos, beatings and pepper spray, I heard a police officer say that restrictions were in place so that “the Jews could see their President in peace”.

Since when is a foreign head of state the President of Australian Jews? And what does it say about Minns having the police force turn savagely on the people of NSW to protect an unwelcome war criminal? Clearly, social cohesion has not been served by Minns’ and Albanese’s misguided decisions.

Antisemitism will rise while genocidal Israel claims to represent all Jews and a majority of Jews identify with Israel. After all, Synagogues host speaking tours for Israelis who come to recruit young Australian Jews for the IDF, raise money for illegal settlements in the West Bank, and recommend real estate deals of land and property taken from Palestinians. Antisemitism will increase as long as Zionist peak bodies of Australian Jewry hold power over our politicians and public institutions, and millions of taxpayers’ dollars are spent on protecting the so-called Jewish community, but grants and support for other communities are withdrawn. And it is obvious that when censorship creeps in and democratic rights are tossed out, social cohesion suffers.

(This article is an edited version of a submission to the Royal Commission)

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

Jepke Goudsmit


Jepke Goudsmit is a theatre maker. Since 1985 she has been co-director of Kinetic Energy Theatre Company. Since 2004 the company has focused on social justice and human rights issues through theatre-in-education.

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Sunday, May 31, 2026

Katherena Vermette - Wikipedia

Katherena Vermette - Wikipedia

Katherena Vermette

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
katherena vermette
Born29 January 1977 (age 49)
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
OccupationPoet, writer, documentary filmmaker
Period2010s–present
Notable worksNorth End Love Songs, The Break
Website
www.katherenavermette.com

Katherena vermette[a] (born 29 January 1977) is a Canadian writer, who won the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry in 2013 for her collection North End Love Songs.[3][4] Vermette is of Métis descent and originates from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was an MFA student in creative writing at the University of British Columbia.[5]

In addition to writing, Vermette advocates for the equality of Indigenous peoples in Canada, vocalizing her dissatisfaction with the Canadian government and media's apathy and neglect of Indigenous rights.[6]

Early life

Born to a Métis father and Mennonite mother,[7][8] Vermette grew up in the North End of Winnipeg, Manitoba,[6] a neighbourhood distinguished by a relatively high population of Indigenous people (approximately 25%), primarily First Nations and Métis people. In an interview with CBC Radio, Vermette described her childhood as not being "picturesque."[6] For Vermette, growing up in the North End meant that she bore witness to injustice and prejudice from a young age;[6] when she was 14, Vermette lost her older brother, 18-year-old Donovan, who was missing for six months prior to being found dead.[9][6] Vermette asserts that the combination of Donovan's young age, his pre-disappearance circumstances of being at a bar with friends, and his being Cree meant that his disappearance did not get adequate coverage by the media. Vermette cites the apathy shown by her community and the media surrounding her brother's disappearance as instigating her awareness of the discrimination against Indigenous peoples by settler Canadians.[6]

Career

Katherena Vermette is known primarily for her poetry, although she is also a writer of prose.[6][10]

North End Love Songs

Vermette's first published volume of poetry, North End Love Songs functions as an ode to the place she grew up, Winnipeg's North End.[11][6] In the work, she describes her neighbourhood through highlighting its relationship to nature.[10] The collection depicts a "young girl or woman struggling with identity and place."[12]

"Heart"

A poem commissioned by CBC Aboriginal, "Heart" similarly depicts the North End of Winnipeg from vermette's point of view. Vermette aims to change the narrative from "that North End", known for being a "lost cause", to the way she knows it.[11] Vermette calls the North End the "heart of the Métis nation."[11]

The Seven Teachings Stories

Vermette's children's picture book book series The Seven Teachings Stories was published by HighWater Press in 2015.[13] Illustrated by Irene Kuziw, the collection aims to present the Anishnaabe Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers in a way that is easily digestible for young people.[14] The series depicts Indigenous children in a metropolitan context.[15] The series comprises seven individual volumes: The Just Right Gift, Singing Sisters, The First Day, Kode's Quest(ion), Amik Loves School, Misaabe's Stories, and What is Truth, Betsy?.[15]

The Break

Her debut novel The Break was published in 2016, and was shortlisted for that year's Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize[16] and Governor General's Award for English-language fiction.[17] In November 2017, it won the Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Literature.[18]

Film and digital media

In 2015, she and Erika MacPherson co-directed the 20-minute National Film Board of Canada documentary This River, about Canadian Indigenous families that have had to search for family members who have disappeared. Partly based on Vermette's own experience, the film received the 2016 Coup de coeur du jury award at Montreal's Présence autochtone [fr] festival, and premiered in vermette's hometown of Winnipeg on October 5, at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.[19][20] It was named Best Short Documentary at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards. Vermette and NFB producer Alicia Smith also created a related Instagram work, What Brings Us Here, a companion piece to The River, which offers portraits of volunteers behind the community-run Winnipeg search teams the Bear Clan and Drag the Red.[21][22]

Other work

She is a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective of Manitoba, and edited the anthology xxx ndn: love and lust in ndn country in 2011.[23]

Her work was published in the literary anthology Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water.[24]

Activism

Vermette works with young people who are ostracized due to their circumstances and labelled "at risk".[10] She ran a workshop on using writing to cope with growing up marginalized.[10] Vermette promotes developing young people's artistic voices through poetry.[10]

Vermette has described her writing as motivated by an activist spirit, particularly on First Nations issues.[6]

Accolades

In 2013, vermette won the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry, for her collection North End Love Songs,[6][25][12] Vermette considered not accepting the award, as a means of protesting the Canadian government's treatment of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and the government’s policies in general.[6] Vermette decided to accept the award because the people who voted for North End Love Songs were a collection of her literary peers, making it a reflection of the Canadian poetry community, rather than the Canadian government.[6]

In 2017, vermette won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award for The Break.[26] Its French translation, Ligne brisée, was defended by Naomi Fontaine in the 2018 edition of Le Combat des livres,[27] where it won the competition.[28]

Her novel The Strangers was the winner of the 2021 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.[29]

Real Ones was longlisted for the 2024 Giller Prize.[30]

Works

  • North End Love Songs (2012, poetry)
  • The Seven Teachings Stories (2015, children's)
  • The Break (2016, novel)
  • Pemmican Wars (2017, graphic novel)
  • river woman (2018, poetry)
  • The Girl and the Wolf (2019, children's)
  • The Strangers (2021, novel)
  • The Circle (2023, novel)
  • Real Ones (2024, novel)
  • Procession (2025, poetry)

Notes

  1.  Vermette stylizes her name without capitals.[1][2]

References

  1.  Edgar, Gordon (9 July 2022). "Festival of Words reveals next year's authors; final panel on fan/author relationship". Moose Jaw Today. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022. Editor's note: the lowercase spelling of katherena vermette is by her preference.
  2.  "about". Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  3.  Rinehart, Dianne (13 November 2013). "Eleanor Catton wins Governor General's Literary Award for The Luminaries". Toronto Star. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  4.  Thacker, Sandra (13 November 2013). "Winnipeg poet wins Governor General's Award". CBC News. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  5.  Small, Alan (3 October 2013). "Local poet didn't know it". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  6.  Vermette, Katherena (13 November 2013). "Winnipeg poet Katherena Vermette wins the 2013 Governor General's Poetry Prize" (Interview). Interviewed by Carol Off.
  7.  "Katherena Vermette". National Film Board. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8.  Zacharias, Robert (19 April 2017). "Ceremonies of belief". Canadian Mennonite. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  9.  "A broken family: Katherena Vermette's life changed when her brother disappeared". CBC. 9 May 2014. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  10.  "Katherena Vermette". University of Manitoba. Archived from the original on 22 March 2016.
  11.  "Métis poet Katherena Vermette defends Winnipeg's North End in video". CBC News. 29 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016.
  12.  Walschots, Natalie Zina (22 November 2013). "Katherena Vermette". The Walrus. Archived from the original on 5 June 2024.
  13.  "The Seven Teachings Stories". Portage & Main Press/HighWater Press. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  14.  "The Seven Teachings Stories". CBC Books. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016.
  15.  Zaidman, Harriet (12 June 2015). "The Seven Teachings Stories". CM Magazine. 21 (39). The Manitoba Library Association. ISSN 1201-9364 – via University of Manitoba.
  16.  Medley, Mark (21 September 2016). "Two debut novelists among this year's Writers' Trust nominees". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019.
  17.  Medley, Mark (4 October 2016). "Governor-General's Literary Award short list a serious case of déjà vu". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 1 June 2017.
  18.  Carter, Sue (24 November 2017). "Katherena Vermette wins CODE's 2017 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Young Adult Literature". Quill and Quire. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  19.  King, Randall (9 August 2016). "Local film about tragic Red River searches honoured at Montreal festival". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on 5 June 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  20.  Lewis, Philip (2 October 2015). "Redemption on the Red: this river". NFB Blog. National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  21.  Cram, Stephanie (29 October 2016). "Instagram project asks what attracts volunteers to patrol Winnipeg neighbourhoods". CBC News. Archived from the original on 5 June 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  22.  Larkins, David (6 November 2016). "New doc explores search for missing people". Winnipeg Sun. Archived from the original on 7 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  23.  Vermette, Katherena (27 June 2011). "Manitoba writers explore Indigenous erotica in self-published book". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on 1 July 2011.
  24.  "Manitowapow". Portage & Main Press/HighWater Press. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  25.  "Katherena Vermette Wins Governor General's Award for Poetry". UBC Creative Writing. 13 November 2013. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  26.  Medley, Mark (25 May 2017). "Katherena Vermette wins Amazon.ca First Novel Award". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 26 May 2017.
  27.  "Combat des livres is back!". CBC Books. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  28.  Balser, Erin (11 May 2018). "Ligne brisée, the French translation of The Break by Katherena Vermette, wins Combat des livres". CBC. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  29.  Koeverden, Jane van (3 November 2021). "Katherena Vermette, Tomson Highway and Cherie Dimaline among winners at 2021 Writers' Trust Awards". CBC. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
  30.  "12 Canadian books make 2024 longlist for $100K Giller Prize". CBC. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2025.
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