It has been an amazing two months of Love to Read Local Radio, and today’s episode is no different. We’ve brought together Madelaine Dickie (Red Can Origami), Helen Milroy (Backyard Birds) and Brenton E. McKenna (Ubby’s Underdogs Series) to discuss why they love to tell stories.
Helen says she’s always loved storytelling and would write in transit during her day job as a children’s psychiatrist. She was always fascinated by stories growing up, and she attributes this to her Indigenous background, where storytelling was always important. ‘Storytelling is a unique way to understanding your place in the world and understanding the world.’ In her work with children, she noticed that many were struggling with the negative associations placed on them and wanted to change that by showcasing the emotional gifts of children as something positive.
Brenton recounts how he struggled with reading as a kid and how falling in love with comic books changed the way he saw reading. The Ubby’s Underdogs books are graphic novels inspired by the ghost stories he grew up with, and the life of his grandmother and her thirteen siblings. He says that a female superhero is rare, let alone an Indigenous one, and he had to fight for Ubby’s voice to be heard.
Go to the Fremantle Press website for the full show notes: www.fremantlepress.com.au.
About Love to Read Local Radio
This episode is produced by Fremantle Press for Love to Read Local. To listen to more episodes, subscribe to the Fremantle Press Podcast
https://www.fremantlepress.com.au/the-podcast on iTunes, Google Play or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts. Love to Read Local is a statewide, online celebration of Western Australian stories, books and writers. While we remain at a social distance in the physical world, let’s get socially closer in the digital world. Visit the Love to Read Local website
https://ltrl.writingwa.org/ to connect with other readers, tell us which local books you love to read and perhaps inspire others to read those books too!
Music: ‘Letter to a Daughter of St George’, from the Meat Lunch EP: Songs from Floaters. Written by Alan Fyfe. Performed by Trevor Bentley (guitar and vocals – @trevormb) and Chris Parkinson (harmonica). Produced by Blake Carnaby of Nuglife studios with impresario work by Benjamin P. Newton.
Producer: Claire Miller
Mastered and edited by: Aidan d’Adhemar
Sponsor: This show was made possible with a grant from the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund
