Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi) (1944 - )

Roberta (Bobbi) Sykes was born and brought up in Townsville, Queensland. She left school at 14 and trained as a nurse. In 1971 she moved to Sydney, and in 1972 helped establish the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra. She worked as Education and Publicity Officer for the newly founded Aboriginal Medical Service in Redfern, and began a ten-year career as a freelance journalist. She has written poetry and film reviews, and contributed to contemporary discussions on a wide range of indigenous issues.

From 1975 to 1980 Bobbi Sykes was an adviser on Aboriginal health and education to the New South Wales Health Commission, following which she moved to the United States and completed her doctorate on Aboriginal education at Harvard University. Upon her return to Sydney, she continued writing and lecturing. She has held appointments at Charles Sturt and Macquarie universities and has worked as a consultant.

Books

• Mum Shirl, Mum Shir: an autobiography with the assistance of Bobbi Sykes, 2 edn, Heinemann, Richmond, Victoria, 1981, 115 pp. [ Details... ]
• Roberta Sykes ; photography by Sandy Edwards, Murawina : Australian women of high achievement, Doubleday, Sydney, 1993, 185 pp. [ Details... ]
• Rowland, Robyn, Women who do and women who don't join the women's movement, Routledge & K. Paul, London, 1984, 242 pp. [ Details... ]
• Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi), Love poems and other revolutionary actions, 2 edn, Univeristy of Queensland Press, St Lucia, QLD, 1988, 57 pp. [ Details... ]
• Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi), Black majority, Hudson, Hawthorn, Victoria, 1989, 238 pp. [ Details... ]
• Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi), Snake cradle, Snake dancing and Snake circle (autobiographical trilogy), Allen and Unwin, St Leonards, NSW, 1997-, 330 (vol 1) pp. [ Details... ]

Book Sections

• Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi), 'Black women in Australia - a history', in Mercer, J. (ed.), The other half; women in Australian society, Penguin, Harmondsworth, England, 1975, pp. 313-321. [ Details... ]
• Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi), 'While my name is remembered', in Shoemaker, Adam and Laurie Hergenhan (eds), Oodgeroo; a tribute, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, QLD, 1994. [ Details... ]

Conference Papers

• Sykes, Roberta (Bobbi), 'Dr Roberta Sykes', in Women of the Year: a collection of speeches by Australia's most successful women, National Council of the Women of the Year, Buderim, Queensland, 1987, pp. 212-215. [ Details... ]

See also

• Horton, David (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, society and culture, Aboriginal Studies Press for AIATSIS, Canberra, 1994, 2 v. (xxxiii, 1340 p.) pp. [ Details... ]