Magabala Books

Magabala Books Australia’s leading First Nations publisher based in the remote Kimberley town of Rubibi (Broome) 📚 To this end, Magabala Books was created.

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. In 1987, from the pearling town of Rubibi (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.

12/06/2026

Oh to be Loki unboxing his books with severe jetlag after travelling for over 20 hours 😌📦

'Damm Good Television' by Loki Liddle releases next Tuesday 16 June!

How gorgeous are these photos from the launch for 'Janigun (at the beach)' by Mabu Yawuru Ngan-ga, illustrated by Brento...
10/06/2026

How gorgeous are these photos from the launch for 'Janigun (at the beach)' by Mabu Yawuru Ngan-ga, illustrated by Brenton E McKenna? 🥹🏖️

Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate this deadly First Nations word board book 🌊

📸 Dayvis Heyne

🗣️ 'Damn Good Television' by Loki Liddle releasing 16 June!"Now they’ve stretched my wanted posterfrom the Gold Coast up...
09/06/2026

🗣️ 'Damn Good Television' by Loki Liddle releasing 16 June!

"Now they’ve stretched my wanted poster
from the Gold Coast up to Broome
And i’ve been killin’ politicians
so i’ll have to leave town soon"

Gritty, bloodsoaked and unsentimental, Loki Liddle’s debut poetry collection takes readers on a deranged road trip from Coolangatta to Broome. Along the way, he consumes and spits out western popular culture and connects to the voices of his Jabirr Jabirr ancestors, weaving past, present and fiction together in a surreal and unforgettable feature.

08/06/2026

Hot mob read Magabala books 📚

Catch Bruce Pascoe at the 2026 Big Day of Books Perth 📚Two Hearts, Two Cultures: Many ways of knowing and sharing 20 Jun...
05/06/2026

Catch Bruce Pascoe at the 2026 Big Day of Books Perth 📚

Two Hearts, Two Cultures: Many ways of knowing and sharing
20 June | 10AM | ABC Studios, East Perth

Limited tickets available: https://bit.ly/49HcrdS

Inventive and heartfelt – four writers share the experience of inhabiting in multiple worlds. 'Big Sky: When Emu Left the Earth' is a meeting of science and holistic knowledge as Bruce Pascoe and astrophysicist Professor Ray Norris share two ways of knowing the sky. 'Trials of Hope' weaves Ethiopian heritage and language with poetry and prose to tell the story of Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes’ journey from shepherd boy to university human rights director, and Olivia de Zilva’s 'Plastic Budgie' contains stories that expand and contracts around questions of self and family, and how our memories form us. Hosted by Jo Trilling.

The 2026 Big Day of Books Perth is hosted by ABC Radio National, in partnership with Fremantle Press, UWA Publishing, Copyright Agency, Hachette Books, Centre for Stories and Beaufort Street Books.

Today is Mabo Day, and we recognise the incredible legacy of Eddie Mabo. On this day in 1992, Mer Island man Eddie Mabo ...
03/06/2026

Today is Mabo Day, and we recognise the incredible legacy of Eddie Mabo.

On this day in 1992, Mer Island man Eddie Mabo successfully overturned 'terra nullius', the false legal concept that the land did not belong to Aboriginal people before European invasion.

His decade-long legal battle led to the Mabo Decision, recognising First Nations’ land ownership and paving the way for the Native Title Act 1993.

Pictured: Page 62 of 'Always Was, Always Will Be' (2024), written by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson. Eddie Koiki Mabo, Greg McIntrye and Eddie Mabo Jnr, being interviewed on Mer, 1989.

We are thrilled to announce that 'Bapa's Last Canoe' by Maree McCarthy Yoelu, illustrated by Samantha Campbell, has been...
30/05/2026

We are thrilled to announce that 'Bapa's Last Canoe' by Maree McCarthy Yoelu, illustrated by Samantha Campbell, has been shortlisted in the 'Children's Picture Book' category for the 2026 ASLA DANZ Award.

Bapa’s Last Canoe is a heartfelt picture book about Bapa, the author’s grandfather, a traditional canoe maker, and the making of his last canoe. Bapa takes his three daughters (the author’s mother and aunties) away on a canoe ride to connect to family and Country for the last time before his daughters leave for school in the city.

Congratulations to Maree! 🖤

Happy Torres Strait Islander Flag Day 💙💚🖤🤍The late Bernard Namok officially presented this flag to the people of the Tor...
29/05/2026

Happy Torres Strait Islander Flag Day 💙💚🖤🤍

The late Bernard Namok officially presented this flag to the people of the Torres Strait on 29 May 1992 during the sixth Torres Strait Cultural Festival. Today we're celebrating this important day by reading 'Our Flag, Our Story' (2024) by Bernard Namok Jnr and Thomas Mayo, illustrated by Tori-Jay Mordey.

His son Bernard Namok Jnr was just a little boy when his dad designed the Torres Strait Islander Flag, a symbol of unity, shared identity and pride for all Torres Strait Islanders. This is the story of a flag and what it represents.

Images by Kantesha Takai & Christopher Ward from Lola Digital.

Congratulations to Dr Bronwyn Bancroft and Stephen Pigram, who have both been awarded the Red Ochre Award for Lifetime A...
29/05/2026

Congratulations to Dr Bronwyn Bancroft and Stephen Pigram, who have both been awarded the Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement in Artistic Excellence at the 2026 First Nations Arts and Culture Awards.

Other Magabala creators present at the Awards were MC and performer Kirli Saunders OAM and Skye Cusack, who was a finalist for the Youth Award for Achievement in the Arts.

Congratulations to all deadly creatives recognised in these awards 🖤🏆

Magabala was thrilled to see that Richard Lewer has won the 2026 Archibald prize with this stunning portrait of Pitjantj...
28/05/2026

Magabala was thrilled to see that Richard Lewer has won the 2026 Archibald prize with this stunning portrait of Pitjantjatjara Elder, senior artist and ngangkari (traditional healer) Iluwanti Ken, titled:

Illuwanti Ken
synthetic polymer paint on canvas
198 x 198 cm

On the painting of Illuwanti Ken, Richard says:

'The subject of this portrait is Iluwanti Ken, a Pitjantjatjara Elder, senior artist and ngangkaṟi (traditional healer). She is a finalist in this year’s Wynne Prize.'

‘I spent time with Iluwanti at Tjala Arts in Amata, in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. Although we have known one another for several years through shared exhibitions, being on Country together deepened my understanding of her presence and the responsibilities she carries,’ says Richard Lewer.

‘Iluwanti paints with an urgency I recognise. Her work depicts the walawuru tjukurpa, the story of the eagles. Birds appear in her drawings, paintings and ceramics as teachers of care, protection, provision and resilience, particularly for women and children. These lessons shaped how I approached this portrait. I wanted to convey her strength and attentiveness and reflect the way she watches over others.

‘In person, Iluwanti is a small woman, but she carries immense, quiet authority. I painted her life‑size, so her presence meets the viewer directly. The yellow ochre background holds the intensity of the heat and light we were working in. She loves bright clothing, which feels inseparable from her spirit, and the traces of paint on her arm acknowledge her as a working artist, as if she has just stepped out of the studio.’

Illuwanti Ken is also featured in Magabala's 'Traditional Healers of Central Australia NGANGKARI' the new edition is available now.

You can see the winning portrait at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Address

1 Bagot Street
Broome, WA
6725

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4am
Tuesday 10am - 4am
Wednesday 10am - 4am
Thursday 10am - 4am
Friday 10am - 4am

Telephone

+61891921991

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