Derby kids spread wings in Broome

About 30 Derby High School kids travelled to Broome last week to meet university representatives from Perth, Broome Senior High School students and a published graphic novel specialist.

The students from Years 10, 11 and 12 gathered at Magabala Books on Thursday to meet indigenous graphic novelist Brenton “Ez” McKenna as he demonstrated what it takes to publish two graphic novels.

Magabala Books marketing manager Lisa Burton said she was pleased to welcome the students and showcase McKenna’s Ubby’s Underdogs series, which is set in Broome after World War II.

“Brenton will talk with the kids for about an hour about his creative process and how he has developed his characters, as well as his journey as a graphic novelist — he’ll also do a few illustration demos,” she said.

Derby High School head of English Anne-Marie Czichy said the journey was being treated as a reward for the students as well as an opportunity to attend a discussion about Years 11 and 12 preparation on Friday.

“There’s been such attendance here and applications to their work, we decided to celebrate that by bringing them to Broome and meeting Brenton, a successful author who works with graphic novels — graphic novels are one of the genres in their school course,” she said.

“Ten or 15 years ago Derby students wrote a novel with their principal and we are looking at recreating that with a different group of kids in 2016, in a graphic novel form.”