Ellen van Neerven, an Indigenous writer and poet who won the prestigious David Unaipon Award in 2013, became the unwitting target of angry school students on Monday after one her poems, Mango, was used as a sample text in the New South Wales year 12 higher school certificate English exam. It prompted a torrent of abuse directed at van Neervan, including some students who contacted her directly on Facebook. Some students defended van Neerven, and criticised students for contacting her directly. “This is a completely inappropriate response and I hope those involved see fit to apologise to Ms van Neerven,” he said in a statement. Van Neerven has not commented publicly about the abuse, but on Twitter writers and poets jumped to her defence.

Source: The Guardian October 16, 2017 22:53 UTC