OCCASIONALLY we forget about the diversity that has made the Clarence Valley such an interesting place to live.

Highly acclaimed and much-loved author Shirley Walker has, however, made it her mission to remind everyone of our community's make-up through her most recent book, The Ghost at the Wedding.

Written movingly about life on the Clarence River last century, it deals with the young men, cane cutters and mill workers and others, who hastened to the first and second world wars, many of whom paid with their lives, and the women who welcomed them back and raised a new generation, for good or ill.

Because the central figure in this book, Shirley's mother-in-law Jessie Walker, was a local painter, the book has much to say about art and its ability to communicate important emotional truths.

Shirley will be the guest speaker at The Gallery Foundation's seventh annual dinner and art auction, The D'art, to be held at The Barn, Grafton Showground, on Friday, March 2.

The Ghost at the Wedding won the 2010 Nita B Kibble Literary Award for the best book of that year written by a woman. Shirley has had a substantial academic career in Australian literature at UNE as well as deep family roots in the Clarence Valley. Her literary works are written as a memoir, as true stories in the form of a novel.

The central character of The Ghost at the Wedding, Jessie Walker, was Shirley's mother-in-law, a real artist.

The Gallery Foundation Board has revamped the evening, encour- aging guests to be creative by attending in Bohemian dress.

"As we are representing the Art Gallery people can express their creative style in their attire on the evening," chairman of the board Dr George Burkitt said.

There will be a scrumptious menu from Georgie's Mark Hackett.

A bus will be provided from Yamba and Maclean at a small cost. D'art Tickets are available from the Gallery for $80 each.