Cheryl is from the Kooma and Nguri nations in western and central Queensland.

Working across non-fiction, poetry, and children's literature, Cheryl’s first book, Yanga – Mother, carries a powerful backstory honouring the Stolen Generations. Her second, For You, Country, will soon be published by UQP and focuses on the deep love First Nations peoples have for Country.

In 2022, Cheryl was awarded the prestigious Oodgeroo Noonuccal Prize for Indigenous Poetry and has since been commissioned by Camerata (Queensland’s chamber orchestra), the Institute of Modern Art and the Queensland Art Gallery.

Cheryl was an inaugural recipient of both the First Nations Australian Writers Network Fellowship at Varuna and the Queensland Museum Fellowship, as well as a 2024 Queensland Writers Fellowship. Yanga Mother was shortlisted for a 2025 Australian Book Industry Award and Cheryl was recently awarded a Summer Writers Residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity in Canada.

Before emerging as a writer, Cheryl worked in state and federal government across many portfolios including health, tax and education. Her most recent role was at the Queensland Department of Environment and Science where she led First Nations strategy and programs. Cheryl is proud of championing land justice including the return of national park ownership and management to First Nations peoples.

Cheryl is currently the General Manager of proppaNOW Arts Collective.

An avid volunteer, Cheryl has served on many boards including with the Queensland Art Gallery, the Institute of Modern Art, the Children’s Hospital Foundation, the Brisbane Writers Festival and the First Nations Australian Writers Network. She is currently on the board of Camerata, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.

IMAGE CREDIT: Christopher Bassi, from Yanga Mother