Singing Out Book Project
Singing Out Book cover image
In June and July 2008, Side by Side Community Project Consulting and Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation partnered with The Neighborhood Story Project in running a book-making workshop for Aboriginal ladies from Derby. The project was to put together a book of stories about women’s experiences of education and learning using writing, interviewing and photography, and forms part of the community-based research on issues for Indigenous kids and families in Derby on which Jalaris and Side by Side are collaborating. The hope was that the stories would contribute to better understanding and knowledge of the diverse influences on Indigenous educational experiences in the Derby region today.
The project drew on the Neighborhood Story Projects model of community writing and interviewing, and the methods of participatory photography and story telling of Side by Side and Jalaris. Over an intensive month 7 women ranging in age from 21 to 60 years old wrote stories about themselves and their lives and took photographs to accompany their stories. The 7 writers selected, interviewed & photographed 7 other women in the Derby community who’s stories of education and learning they felt should be included in the book.
The final product was launched in November 2008 in Derby, Western Australia. Follow this link to hear a radio interview from local Derby station 6DBY about the Singing Out book launch, which includes readings from some of the writers. The book is not for sale, however limited copies are available through Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation, Side by Side Community Project Consulting & the Neighborhood Story Project.
You can see selected pages from Carlene Wises story below:
[...] here to read more about Singing Out, including links to a podcast of readings from the book launch and some pages from the book… [...]
[...] NSP doesn’t just work with young people – they respond to requests from community and neighborhood groups in their region and beyond to work with them to author their own books, posters and stories. In an ongoing collaboration between NSP and my work in the Kimberley, Rachel Breunlin (Co-director of NSP) came to Derby in the Kimberley, Western Australia, in mid 2008 and collaborated with Side by Side Community Project Consulting and local Derby Aboriginal organisation Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation to use the NSP writing workshop model to make a book about Aboriginal women’s experiences of education in the Kimberley. You can read more about the Singing Out book project here…. [...]
[...] and evaluation in small ways- such as using comic book layout to make an evaluation report, or creative writing processes as social research, but trust me, there are much more exciting and creative examples of mixing of forms than [...]