Inside Magabala Books’ mission to elevate First Nations storytellers

Award-winning not-for-profit publisher Magabala Books empowers First Nations people to document their stories and creativity through books. 

8 July 2025

As a university student living far from where she grew up in Boorloo (Perth) on Noongar Country, Dr Lilly Brown often browsed the shelves at Readings Bookstore in Carlton, Narrm (Melbourne). One day in 2010, the Gumbaynggirr woman picked up a book on philosophy by the late Bill Neidjie, which had been published by Magabala Books.

“I had never heard of Magabala Books, but this tiny book became my bible while I was in the big city. He wrote it to remind people that no matter where you are in the world, you're always connected to place, and to each other. Even strangers are an extension of our family.”

Fourteen years later, Brown was appointed the CEO of Magabala Books. As the head of Australia’s leading Indigenous publishing house since 2024, she is based on Yawuru and Djugan land in Rubibi (Broome), Western Australia. Prior to taking on the role, Brown had been an executive at the headspace Youth Mental Health Foundation and had lectured at the University of Melbourne for a decade. She has a PhD in youth studies and a Masters in Politics and education from Cambridge University.

A publishing pioneer

“Magabala Books is Aboriginal owned and led, and our goal is to nurture the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices,” says Brown. “Half of our 22 staff identify as First Nations people and we have an all-Aboriginal board.”

“Magabala Books is Aboriginal owned and led, and our goal is to nurture the talent and diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices.”
- Dr Lilly Brown, CEO, Magabala Books

Up until recently, Magabala Books was one of Australia’s only First Nations publishers. It was established in 1987 by a group of 500 Elders and community members from across the Kimberley.

“All of these people gathered in a place called Ngumpan (in the Kimberley region) and decided that they wanted to start an Aboriginal publishing house. This was to ensure that First Nations stories would be protected and [that they would] exist for generations to come,” explains Brown.

“At the time, there were a lot of non-Indigenous folk going out to communities and hearing stories from First Nations people, and then writing them up and not acknowledging where those stories came from.”

Celebrating all kinds of authors

Magabala Books has published 304 books, with genres spanning memoir, poetry, philosophy, humour, young adult and children’s books. Magabala’s stable of authors includes the celebrated Dark Emu author Bruce Pascoe and Ali Cobby Eckermann, whose book Ruby Moonlight was the first verse novel to ever win the NSW Premier’s Literary Award Book of the Year. Another is Daniel Browning, who recently won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Nonfiction for Close to the Subject. Julie Janson’s Compassion has recently been longlisted for the 2025 Miles Franklin Award.

Magabala Books has itself won a slew of awards, including ABIA Small Publisher of the Year in 2020 and 2024. Its top five titles in 2024 were children’s books by Indigenous authors. Each sold more than 10,000 copies.

“Last year in Australia’s book market, sales of children's books, junior fiction and young adult [books] dropped by about 7.6%. Whereas our sales in kids and junior fiction increased by about 3.8%. We are really proud of that. More importantly, we are helping First Nations kids and families to understand the importance of stories, and particularly stories where they can see the diversity of their life ways,” says Brown.

"We are helping First Nations kids and families to understand the importance of stories, and particularly stories where they can see the diversity of their life ways.”
- Dr Lilly Brown, CEO, Magabala Books

Unlike most traditional publishers, Magabala Books is not a commercial entity. As a not-for-profit, it has the freedom to give a voice to a more diverse range of authors.

“For us, it doesn't matter whether an author is completely new or established and celebrated,” says Brown. “Embracing diversity is incredibly important. For example, First Nations young people are not necessarily only First Nations young people. They also might be queer, or have a disability. It's so important for publishers like us to ensure that we are choosing stories that reflect that complex humanity across the board, and that reflect the humour and brilliance of what it means to be a First Nations person in 2025.”

“Embracing diversity is incredibly important. For example, First Nations young people are not necessarily only First Nations young people. They also might be queer, or have a disability. It's so important for publishers like us to ensure that we are choosing stories that reflect that complex humanity across the board, and that reflect the humour and brilliance of what it means to be a First Nations person in 2025.” 
- Dr Lilly Brown, CEO, Magabala Books

Magabala Books undertakes fundraising to publish titles under its Creative Development Fund and Cultural Fund. As well as publishing around 18 books per year, it awards scholarships, fellowships and creative grants to Indigenous writers, illustrators and artists.

Australia’s changing publishing landscape

Brown welcomes the proliferation of avenues for telling First Nations stories, but she sometimes hears stories of Indigenous authors feeling disappointed by their experiences of publishing with traditional houses.

“Ten years ago, there were very few publishers publishing First Nation stories,” says Brown. “Nowadays, more mainstream publishers are publishing these kinds of stories and it has become a commercial venture. It is a good thing that more stories are being told, but if something's commercialised, its purpose is to make profit and some of those processes can be extractive.”

“Ten years ago, there were very few publishers publishing First Nation stories. Nowadays, more mainstream publishers are publishing these kinds of stories and it has become a commercial venture.” 
- Dr Lilly Brown, CEO, Magabala Books

Magabala Books is a guardian of First Nations’ cultural and intellectual property rights. As a trusted First Nations publishing house, Elders often reach out to ask if they can tell their story in book form.

“Quite often, they’re big stories. They're stories of surviving colonisation. We support them to do that,” says Brown.

At all times, Magabala Books strives to protect and preserve First Nations stories in a way that empowers authors. This is consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which recognises the right of Indigenous peoples to control their own narratives and knowledge systems, emphasising the importance of self-determination for First Nations peoples.

“We have a First Nations publishing team and at the front and centre is creator safety. Our relationship with creators is one of the most important protective factors to ensure that we're supporting creators to tell their stories,” says Brown.

“We have a First Nations publishing team and at the front and centre is creator safety. Our relationship with creators is one of the most important protective factors to ensure that we're supporting creators to tell their stories.”
- Dr Lilly Brown, CEO of Magabala Books

“Some publishing houses will sign an author and say, ‘Your next two books must be published by us.’ We don't do that. We encourage our creators to go publish in other places as well. We don't have a scarcity approach. What we want to do is invest in creators and support them to tell their stories wherever they want to.”

While many independent Australian publishing houses are closing or being acquired by larger players, Brown attributes the longevity of Magabala Books to genuinely serving the community.

“Our business model is underpinned by doing things the right way and ensuring that we're accountable. I believe that if you do the right thing in the right way, and you're responding to the needs of the communities that you seek to benefit, you will be successful.”

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