Meet the Author – Kirli Saunders

Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman, and an author of poetry, plays and books, including Bindi, Kindred and The Incredible Freedom Machines. She is a teacher, cultural consultant and artist, and developed the Poetry in First Languages program, delivered by Red Room Poetry. Kirli has won several writing awards, and was named the 2020 NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year. You can visit her at kirlisaunders.com.

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This is an interview I did with Kirli for Australian Geographic: Explorers, a new magazine for young people who care about the planet.

What’s your favourite thing about being an author?
Sharing stories that impart cultural knowledge, teach language and encourage Caring for Country!

What inspired you to write Bindi? (It’s been so heartening to see the government finally consulting First Nations people for their wisdom regarding fire and land management!)
Bindi was inspired by my time on Gundungurra Country delivering the Poetry in First Languages Project with Red Room Poetry, NSWDPIE Glossies in the Mist, Wingecarribee Shire Council and local Elders and Custodians. For this program, we taught local First Nations students Gundungurra language and information about the Glossy Black Cockatoo, a local threatened species. We then planted she-oaks and wrote poems about the sacred bird to encourage the community to become involved in conservation of land and language. This had me inspired to protect the glossies in my own way, and Bindi emerged.
I’d written most of the manuscript when the 2019/20 bushfires broke out in the bushland behind my family home, so I started from scratch again as ash fell from the sky. Bushfires threatened the nesting and feeding habitats of the glossy. In many of the Dreaming stories about the black cockatoo, fire is also a common element. It also felt important to explore traditional means of caring for Country with fire too.

What is a good way for young people to start to connect with the land where they live?
Bushwalk, swim, kayak, ride your pushbike, surf, snorkel and do anything else you can think of to get out and about in nature! Observe the birds, animals and plants and the relationships between them in national parks and un-built spaces. It’s important to protect those special places and creatures while you visit too!

What is a good way for grown-ups to do that?
Spend more time in un-developed and protected spaces, observing the local native plants and animals and the relationships between them and us. Research local threatened species programs and get your family involved in events or projects that support Caring for Country. Model re-using, recycling and re-purposing to your kids, and be an advocate for the Earth, so that they know it’s safe to do so.
Become involved in climate change and environmental protection groups on social media and in your community, attend protests, sign petitions, and inform on policy change to keep the Earth and our future generations safe.

Do you have a favourite Australian animal?
I have many! The Glossy Black Cockatoo, The Superb Lyrebird and the Humpback Whale.

Have you ever had a scary experience with an animal?
Diving with Whale Sharks on the Ningaloo Reef and seeing a shark come up out of the depths as we swam was scary! I jumped back in the boat until the bronze whaler left!

Do you have a favourite flower?
Waratah, the totem of Gundungurra Country, the land I was born and raised on.

People are finally realising the importance of First Nation languages, and wanting to learn more, is there a starting point you recommend?
First Languages Australia, your local lands council, local Elder’s Council. State Libraries and local First Nations Community centres are great places to start. The AECG connected to your child’s school may also have some great programs running.

You developed the amazing Poetry in First Languages program. How has it helped inspire Indigenous students?
Poetry in First Languages (PIFL) delivered by Red Room Poetry aimed to celebrate, share and preserve First Nations Languages by commissioning poets to create and publish poetry learnt from Elders and Community on Country. First Nations students were similarly engaged in workshops on Country with Community, to write poetry and featuring language taught through songs, dance, and cultural lessons. Sixty workshops were delivered over three years in NSW, NT and ACT. Poems from the project were published online, in Guwayu for All Times (Magabala Books) on bus backs, ferries, trains and in public art.
PIFL was a powerful program, teaching our young ones Old Ways through new means. It allowed hundreds of children to learn language for the first time, and I’m really grateful to have developed PIFL with a range of communities and leaders.

Learning language is important for all students, can you tell us about that?
My Mum was raised without language and to have been taught it from my Elders and community is an honour. I feel a deep sense of responsibility to share these teachings in culturally safe ways through storytelling that honours this wisdom. Teaching language through books like Bindi makes First Nations languages accessible in contemporary ways. It’s important that language continues to be taught, so our future generations always know the right names for the animals, plants and actions on Country.

What draws you to poetry?
Poetry allows me to tell stories concisely, I love being able to simmer a feeling or thought down to its most tangible form. Poetry weaves into all of my styles of writing.

And you’re also an artist, what do you love about that, and does it complement your writing?
Art making is the space I occupy when I don’t have the words. I feel meditative and calm when I create art, whereas storytelling for me is rapid and expansive. I really enjoy the contrast of both practices and float between them often.

Bindi is being followed by a sequel this year. Can you tell us a little about that?
I’m still planning this in full with my editor Grace, so it’s all a little bit hush hush, but I will tell you that Bindi will be protecting another threatened species on Gundungurra Country!
I also have eight other forthcoming titles, so keep an eye out for more of my work, illustrated by Dub Leffler, David and Noni Cragg, and Matt Chun soon!