Olive Pink: Artist, Activist & Gardener
                             By Gillian Ward (2018)
      Hardie Grant Books ISBN: 9781743793602 RRP: $50

This lovely hardcover book presents a superb selection of original paintings of the iconic flowers of the Central Australian region, alongside a fascinating biography featuring beautifully reproduced memorabilia of a colourful and unconventional historical Australian figure.
 
A fiercely independent and admirable woman ahead of her time, Olive Pink is best known for her staunch support of the Aboriginal people of Central Australia and for her often feisty encounters with anthropologists, missionaries and local pastoralists. Olive fought hard not only for the rights of the local Arrernte and Warlpiri people, with whom she forged a strong connection, but also to recognise and protect the diversity of the local flora about which she was so passionate.
 
About the author:
Gillian Ward is a reference librarian, researcher, artist, photographer, graphic designer, and member of the Hobart botanical artists group Botaniko.
 
Gillian worked for many years at the University of Tasmania Library as a librarian and exhibition curator. During this time she curated a beautiful selection of botanical paintings by Olive Pink entitled ‘Miss Pink’s Wildflowers’, which was drawn from a large collection of Olive Pink’s paintings held at the library. This exhibition inspired Gillian’s ongoing research on Olive Pink’s life and was the impetus for the book.