Oh yes, another writing competition!

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More praise for The Art of Fire!

Award-winning journalist and author, Victoria Laurie (The Kimberley: Australia’s Last Great Wilderness; The Southwest: Australia’s Biodiversity Hotspot) has written a lovely review for this special book:

A gem of a little book, exquisitely illustrated and achingly relevant to a world still lacking deep understanding of nature and its forces. Jimmy Pike understood fire because he observed it closely, lived its consequences, harnessed its bounty. He had a rich Walmajarri vocabulary to describe its different forms and effects. Words like Lirramunu: a big hunting fire, lit by two people or Nyirirr: island of unburnt grass and trees missed by the fire. Or Kungkala, meaning bush matches, and Minjurn: animals found dead or injured after a fire. The vocabulary around fire in non-Indigenous Australia seems pale, even dangerously inadequate, by contrast.

Jimmy Pike: The Art of Fire is a sharp reminder that other knowledge must be heeded and turned into care for Country. And there’s sheer pleasure in viewing Pike’s cheeky image of husband and wife snuggled round a camp fire, or reading that if a fire is burning at night, owls will be keenly watching animals fleeing the flames into the ‘safety’ of the dark.

Teachers: Check out the new teacher notes for Jimmy and Pat Meet the Queen

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Backroom Press is a micro-publisher located in Broome, a small Kimberley town in the north of Western Australia. It was set up to publish entertaining and educational books from the region.

Backroom Press was founded by three friends in 2006, and incorporated three years later as a Not-for-Profit Association.

We work to foster understanding between different cultural groups, support community educational projects and participate in public events such as festivals and workshops.

We aim to delight, entertain and enlighten through the publication of books that resonate with authentic Kimberley voices telling Kimberley stories.

Our online bookshop features a growing list of children’s and adults’ titles representing the diversity of the region. You are sure to find something for everyone.

If you wish to submit a manuscript for consideration, please refer to our guidelines.

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