On the face of it, writer Maxine Beneba-Clarke had a quintessential Aussie childhood. Growing up in suburban Sydney, riding in the family Ford Falcon, vegemite in the cupboard. She is the author of three poetry collections and an award winning book of short stories, Foreign Soil. Her latest work is a memoir, The Hate Race which touches on some of the racially charged episodes of her life growing up of Afro-Caribbean descent in the Lucky Country.