What is Native Narratives?

In 2019/2020, Australia was tragically affected by a period of unusually intense bushfires – colloquially known as Black Summer. These wildfires were detrimental to the Australian wildlife and threatened species such as glossy black cockatoos, kangaroos, and koalas.

Over 60,000 koalas were impacted by this bushfire crisis and thus, the Native Narratives team believe it is imperative to raise environmental awareness amongst young children.

Inspired by the devastation caused by these events, Native Narratives is a team that has written and illustrated a children's book that follows the story of Kiki the Koala during the Australian bushfires.

In accordance with the RSPCA Provocation goals, Native Narratives aims to foster a strong sense of environmental and animal welfare in the young people of society. By achieving this, primary school aged children will ultimately be more educated and subsequently and more inspired to make a difference as they grow up. We also aim to raise awareness about the travesties of climate change and provide calls to action that allow people to make a difference within their own capacity.

The creative process

This idea was formed as a result of intensive ideating sessions. Once we decided on a children's book, we were able to brainstorm the most effective way of incorporating the RSPCA and the provocation aims. As passionate environmentalists, we saw it very fitting to explore the direction of climate change and the detriment that it can cause to wildlife.

Our team came together with a vast range of skill sets. Each team member was allocated a specific job in which we have spent the semester focusing on to complete the project together. For example, some of the team were assigned writing tasks, whereas others were responsible for illustrations. This allowed us to excel at what we were confident in and enabled us to produce a final copy to the best of our specialised abilities.

Native Narratives team members Kimberly, Tia, Fanyu and Lilly with a finger-puppet cut-out of Kiki the Koala from the book!

So what's next?

In the future, Native Narratives aspires to extend our children's book line and delve into the stories of Tommy the Turtle, Kate the Kangaroo and Chloe the Cockatoo.

In the meantime, Kiki the Koala and her experience of the Australian bushfires remains as the focus - and her story in the Native Narratives series can be read here!

Meet the team

Kimberly Valenny

IT (Computer Science) / Creative Industries (Interaction Design)

Web Developer / Project Manager

Lilly Barker

Laws (Honours) / Creative Industries (Drama)

Writer / Editor, Documentation Auditor

Fanyu Chen

Creative Industries (Screen Content Production)

Visual Content Creator and Designer

Annie Barnett

Business (Marketing) / Creative Industries (Media & Communication)

Marketing Manager / Video Production

Tia Liu

Business (Marketing) / Creative Industries (Fashion Communication)