In Black Chicks Talking, actor Leah Purcell interviews nine indigenous women about their lives.

The experiences of each of the women varies greatly, from Cilla Malone, a mother of six who has lived on an Aboriginal settlement all her life, to Kathryn Hay, who was Australia’s first Aboriginal Miss Australia. Others include Francis Rings, principle dancer for the Bangarra Dance Theatre, Sharon Finnan, who played in the Australian Netball team that won the last World Cup, and Tammy Williams, who aims to be the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The beauty of Black Chicks Talking is the candid nature of the interviews. They carry the effect of minimum editing, which allows the character of each woman to shine through.

It is Leah Purcell’s strong presence as interviewer which ties the book together. There are sections of Leah’s interviews that appear more like discussions. This contrasts to many interview techniques where a facade of objectivity is created by editing out the intejections of the interviewer. In such cases the reader is not aware how the interviewer’s questions have shaped the responses.

Another element adding to the exploration of the women’s characters is the inclusion of a portrait of each of the women by one of Australia’s premier traditional portrait artists, Robert Hannaford. The portraits serve as visual summaries of what Leah seeks to present as each of the women to tell their story in their own voice.

In the same way that Sally Morgan’s My Place approaches vexed issues relating to indigenous and non-indigenous relations through the non-confronting medium of testimony, Black Chicks Talking is a timely piece of literature which should be read widely by Australians.

From a Christian perspective, it is interesting to gain insight into the lives of all ten women and to see how they seek to make sense of life, relationships and spirituality.