New and Rediscovered - Softcover

Vicki Viidikas was born to an Estonian father and an Australian mother on 25 September 1948 in Sydney, New South Wales. She was educated at various schools in Queensland and Sydney until the age of fifteen when she left school to work at a series of casual jobs, including a stint at Abbey's bookshop in Sydney. At age sixteen she began writing, and never stopped. Writing became her passion and her life. In 1967 At East Balmain became her first poem to be published. Four books which comprise both fiction and poetry followed: Condition Red (1973), Wrappings (1974), Knabel (1978) and India Ink (1984). All met with critical acclaim and over time Viidikas has become a much anthologised and influential writer. In 1975, Stephen Wallace directed a twenty-five minute film entitled Break Up from the short story Getting it all Together published in Wrappings. Robyn Archer recorded Vicki's poem O Woman of the Moon for her 1977 album The Wild Girl in the Heart. During her writing career Vicki travelled widely and lived in India for more than a decade. Her interest in Indian life and culture and the Hindu religion was reflected in her writings, particularly India Ink: a collection of prose poems written in India (1984). She continued to write prolifically through the eighties and nineties up until her untimely death on the 27 November 1998.