Magabala Books - Australia's Deadliest Storytellers
Magabala Books was born out of a traditional song and dance festival held in 1984 that was attended by Aboriginal people from across the Kimberley. Here it was decided that an organisation, firmly rooted in Aboriginal law and culture, be established—the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC). KALACC was to be run by Aboriginal leaders and one of its aims was to protect the rights of traditional storytellers and artists. To this end, Magabala Books was created.
In 1987, from the pearling town of Broome in the remote north-west of Western Australia, Magabala Books published its first book. Today we have more than twenty years'experience in publishing Aboriginal social history, memoirs, autobiography, fiction, young adult, children's traditional stories and children's picture books. We are proud to be Australia's oldest independent Indigenous publishing house.
Magabala Books works in collaboration with Indigenous communities, education specialists, teachers and librarians to develop relevant and engaging literacy materials for all cultures. Magabala only produces books by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. We aim to introduce all children to Indigenous tradition and culture.
Magabala Books.mov
Magabala Books was born out of a traditional song and dance festival held in 1984 that was attended by Aboriginal people from across the Kimberley. Here it was decided that an organisation, firmly rooted in Aboriginal law and culture, be established—the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC). KALACC was to be run by Aboriginal leaders and one of its aims was to protect the rights of traditional storytellers and artists. To this end, Magabala Books was created.
In 1987, from the pearling town of Broome in the remote north-west of Western Australia, Magabala Books published its first book. Today we have more than twenty years' experience in publishing Aboriginal social history, memoirs, autobiography, fiction, young adult, children's traditional stories and children's picture books. We are proud to be Australia's oldest independent Indigenous publishing house.
Magabala Books works in collaboration with Indigenous communities, education specialists, teachers and librarians to develop relevant and engaging literacy materials for all cultures. Magabala only produces books by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. We aim to introduce all children to Indigenous tradition and culture.
Magabala Books
Australia's leading Indigenous publishing house.
Once in Broome, Sally Bin Demin, Magabala Books
Interview with Rachel bin Salleh, publisher at Magabala Books
Great interview with Rachel bin Salleh, publisher at Australia's oldest indigenous publishing house, Magabala Books. Rachel was interviewed in Armidale in August 2018 as part of Pitch Independent, which NEWC ran in collaboration with UNE, with the support of the Small Press Network. Interview conducted and recorded by Ariella van Luyn and Beck Wise of UNE.
Our local guide near Broome knew exactly what he was doing | Just Another Day in WA
Cape Leveque, located in a pristine slice of the Kimberley, is famous for its Aboriginal heritage which continues to thrive. Equally famous are the striking colours of the landscape where dramatic red-rock cliffs meet bone-white sand and clear turquoise water.
Where is Cape Leveque? There are direct flights daily from Perth to Broome, as well as a number of direct flights weekly from most capital cities. From here the trip to Cape Leveque usually takes around three and a half hours in a four wheel drive on an unsealed road. You can also enjoy a scenic flight over the area for a bird’s eye view.
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Ubby's Underdogs by Brenton McKenna
Published by Magabala Books. Australia's first graphic novel by an Indigenous creator.
First contact story
A group of Aboriginal people walked out of the desert in 1971 and the first white woman they saw was Margo Baker. Margo reflects on this incident and her years at the mission where they made their new home. Being a keen photographer Margo has a remarkable collection of slides which document her early years in the bush.
The Karajarri Women Rangers Program
Supporting more women, particularly young women, to work on Karajarri Country is the main focus of our conservation partnership, which was officially launched in 2019.
Derby - A look Around - the Kimberleys
Derby is a town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. At the time of the 2011 census, Derby had a population of 4,865, with about half of Aboriginal descent. Along with Broome and Kununurra, it is one of only three towns in the Kimberley to have a population over 2,000. Located on King Sound, Derby has the highest tides in Australia, with the peak differential between low and high tide reaching 11.8 metres.
Australia's Aboriginal Writers: 2019 National Book Festival
Jeanine Leane discussed Walk Back Over, Brenton McKenna discussed Ubby's Underdogs: Return of the Dragons and Kim Scott launched in America his book Taboo at the 2019 Library of Congress National Book Festival in Washington, D.C.
- Jeanine Leane was born in Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Australia. She has been writing since she was a child. She says that I wrote mainly as a way of remembering. After a long career as a secondary school teacher, she worked with Aboriginal students entering university programs and taught indigenous education to mainly non-Aboriginal student teachers. Her first volume of poetry is Dark Secrets After Dreaming: AD 1887-1961. Leane describes is as sequential poetry inspired by anecdotal and family stories. It won the 2010 Scanlon Prize for Indigenous Poetry. Her second book is Purple Threads, which won the David Unaipon Award for an unpublished Indigenous story in any genre. It was later published by the University of Queensland Press. Her most recent book is Walk Back Over.
- Brenton McKenna struggled with reading and writing until a comic book he picked up when he was 10 changed his life. An Indigenous author-illustrator from Broome, Australia, he now creates his own graphic novels, finding inspiration in ghost stories, folklore and mythologies. McKenna is recognized as Australia's first Indigenous graphic novelist. His Ubby's Underdogs series began with the graphic novel The Legend of the Phoenix Dragon, followed by Heroes Beginnings. His third graphic novel is Ubby's Underdogs: Return of the Dragons.
- Kim Scott was born in Perth, Australia, and is a novelist of Indigenous Australian ancestry. He has published five novels, most recently Taboo. His first two novels, True Country and Benang, deal with Aboriginal self-identity. Scott was the first Indigenous writer to receive the Miles Franklin Award, given annually to a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases. He lives in Western Australia state.
For transcript and more information, visit
Faces and Places - Beagle Bay
Part of a series about the faces and people of the Kimberley region in the far north of Western Australia. This programme is about Beagle Bay, once a mission and is situated north of Broome. This won an Australian Video Producers award. Produced by Goolarri Media.
The Waringarri Dancers. Ord Valley Muster
A short little video of the The Waringarri Dancers during the Ord Valley Muster Festival (2019) in Kununurra , Western Australia.
The Corroboree Under the Stars was hosted at the Waringarri Aboriginal Arts, on Speargrass Rd, Kununurra, Western Australia 6743, Kununurra, Australia.
Interested in visiting the Kimberley? Check out some of my videos on you-tube.
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Free Diving
Singer-songwriter, Lorrae Coffin's song, 'Free Diving', a poignant tribute to the Indigenous men and women who worked in Western Australia’s pearling industry as ‘free divers’ in the late nineteenth century. Includes images from her 2017 children's picture book of the same name illustrated by Bronwyn Houston.
Available now from Magabala Books:
Kalacc Festival - Everybody Dance
Once there was a boy, Dub Leffler, Magabala Books.mov
Once there was a boy is a universal story of friendship, temptation and reconciliation. This whimsical picture book is the touching story of a little boy with a broken heart who meets a young girl who shares his secret. The timeless and elegant tale is transformed into a beautiful grown-up story by the use of sophisticated analogies, such as the heart as love or friendship and
the sapotes as forbidden fruit.
With disarmingly innocent language, Once there was a boy belies an emotional depth that allows the author to reach out to both the young, and the young at heart.
The author, Dub (David) Leffler is one of thirteen children and grew up in the small town of Quirindi, south of Tamworth in New South Wales. He is descended from the Bigambul and Mandandanji people of south-west Queensland.
Lurujarri Trail 2012
This was the 25th year of the Lurujarri Heritage Trail - a project envisinged 25 years ago by Goolarabooloo elder and O.A.M. recipient Paddy Roe. The walk is the only of its kind in Australia and was a bold step towards reconcilliation long before the word was fashionable.
The walk follows the songline through the dampier peninsula coastline, possibly the oldest in the country. It is a spiritual journey through country - a journey that unites and strengthens those who walk it's way. Providing a profound understanding for the relationship of country to indigionous life.
The Western Australian government has intentionally ignored this national treasure in a pursuit to open up the Dampier Peninsulka and the greater Kimberley to heavy industrialization. Short term visions of profits cloud the politicians judgements.
IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME THE SONGLINE OF DAMPIER PENINSULA MAY BE SILENCED FOREVER. Don't allow this to happen.
google: james price point - walmadan for more information.
Jeff.
Ubby's Underdogs by Brenton McKenna.m4v
The small pearling settlement of Broome thrives with eccentric small town characters, mythical creatures and fantastic beasts in Brenton's McKenna's first book of the epic trilogy, Ubby's Underdogs.
Set in the 1940s when Broome is still recovering from World War II, The Legend of the Phoenix Dragon follows the adventures of Ubby, a smart, street-wise Aboriginal girl. Ubby is the leader of a small rag-tag gang known as the 'Underdogs.'
With a keen eye for potential gang members, Ubby recruits Sai Fong, a Chinese girl just off the boat from Shanghai. From the moment Ubby and Sai Fong meet, their worlds collide as they find themselves thrown into a series of bizarre adventures full of myths and legends, and secrets never before exposed.
This is a heroic tale that measures the limits of courage and friendship. Ubby's Underdogs: The Legend of the Phoenix Dragon boasts a multifaceted narrative with staggering graphic detail in order to introduce a series of complex characters with links to other worlds.
Amidst a backdrop of fictionalised Aboriginal and Chinese mythology in the unique multicultural town of Broome, Brenton's first graphic novel leaves you gasping for air and in anticipation of things to come.
The Creator Brenton McKenna is a young Yawuru (Broome language group) artist and writer. Brenton fell in love with comic books at a young age. He studied visual arts for two years at Goulburn TAFE and in 2009 was one of twenty successful applicants to be awarded a highly sought after mentorship with the Australian Society of Authors.
Ubby's Underdogs is Brenton's biggest project yet — his first full-length graphic novel. The story is greatly influenced by Brenton's childhood in Broome and the main character, Ubby, was inspired by his grandmother, a strong Aboriginal woman who knew how to look after herself.
Brenton has attended several art workshop/residencies which have generated much national interest over the past few years. He has also illustrated Living Alongside the Animals — Anangu Way,
(Wingfield and Austin, IAD Press, 2009).
Native Title
Ronnie Roe, Walman Djugun Elder, Traditional Custodian, Goolarabooloo in Broome Western Australia describes the genocidal effect that 'Native Title' has had on his people, community.