Clarence Walden is a member of the Gangalidda nation of the Gulf of Carpentaria. He was the Mayor of Doomadgee for many years, a member of the town council, a former ATSIC Commissioner, and is the only living foundation member of the Carpentaria Land Council. Mr Walden is known throughout the region as one of the most important intellectual figureheads alive today, and a principled no-backing-down fighter for his people. He is a most respected and gifted story leader in the Gulf who for many years, led and formed the strategic thinking of many of the critical campaigns he and his people have undertaken, and still has a lot of fight left in him.
In early September, 2018, members of the Other Worlds team (Alexis Wright, Anthony Uhlmann, Ben Etherington), as well as Writing & Society Research Centre technician Ben Denham, and cameraman Andre Sawenko, travelled to Burketown and Doomadgee in the Carpentaria area of Queensland. There they captured film and audio recordings of Clarence in discussion with Alexis Wright for the ABC RAdio National program AWAYE! The stories Clarence told were extraordinary, at times extremely confronting, at times inspiring.
