Texta Book Club: How to make a basket by Jazz Money

Jazz Money rebirths the art of storytelling in how to make a basket: a fervent compass of language and time, echoing the lines of unceded memories.

– Yvette Holt

To coincide with the Troy-Anthony Baylis and Alice Lang exhibitions at QUT Art Museum, we will be discussing How to make a basket by Jazz Money.

Simmering with protest and boundless love, Jazz Money’s David Unaipon Award-winning collection, How to make a basket, examines the tensions of living in the Australian colony today. By turns scathing, funny and lyrical, Money uses her poetry as an extension of protest against the violence of the colonial state, and as a celebration of Blak and queer love. Deeply personal and fiercely political, these poems attempt to remember, reimagine and re-voice history.

Writing in both Wiradjuri and English language, Money explores how places and bodies hold memories, and the ways our ancestors walk with us, speak through us and wait for us.

The evening commences with a tour of the Troy-Anthony Baylis and Alice Lang exhibitions followed by a beverage of your choice and conversations and readings from How to make a basket.

Texta is no ordinary book club; it's for people who love art. We use fiction (mostly) to unpack the subjects, themes and emotions of art. Conversation is never colourless, and is facilitated by our Engagement Officer, Renae Belton and QUT Librarian, Nicole Clark.

Texta is held throughout the year on Tuesday evenings. Purchase this title as an audiobook from  or from  the Bookshop at QUT Depot.

For any queries, contact QUT Art Museum on 07 3138 5370 or artmuseum@qut.edu.au