Herb Wharton AM (b. 1936), Kooma Elder, poet and author, was born at Yumba, an Aboriginal camp near the Queensland town of Cunnamulla. He began writing poetry in his fifties, after a long career as a stockman, drover and labourer. In 1990 he entered several poems in a competition for unpublished Aboriginal writers, and as a result was commissioned to write a novel for the University of Queensland Press. The resulting book, 1992's Unbranded, drew on Wharton's experiences as a stockman in the Australian interior. This was followed by the fictional works Cattle Camp (1994) and Where Ya' Been, Mate? (1996), as well as the autobiography Yumba Days (1999), written during a residency at the Australia Council's Paris studio. A frequent participant in major literary festivals throughout Australia and the world, Wharton is a Life Member of Australia's Stockman’s Hall of Fame. His awards include the Centenary of Federation Medal (2003), the Australian Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature (2012), and the Queensland Greats Award (2013).
