Margaret "Maggie" Dunkle

(alm) Margaret "Maggie" Dunkle

   

Maggie Dunkle is an award-winning Australian children's author now living in Bali. She believes that young Balinese children should have access to books that are attractively illustrated, easy to read, and reflect their own culture and environment. She is the author of the "Clean Bali" series of picture books. "Monkey Tales" is the first book in the new Nature Series of illustrated, bilingual, (English-Indonesian) stories for beginning readers.

Maggie Dunkle adalah sesorang penulis buku anak-anak yang telah meraih penghargaan di Australi dan sekarang tinggal di Bali. Dia percaya bahwa anak-anak di Bali seharusnya muda dapat buku yang cantik, mudah dibaca, yang mencerminkan kebudayan dan lingkungan mereka. Dia menulis Seri buku ilustrasi warna"Clean Bali". "Monkey Tales" adalah buku pertama di Seri Alam, suatu seri buku terilustrasi dan dwibahasa (Indonesia-Inggeris) untuk bacaan anak-anak yang baru mulai membaca.




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Maggie Dunkle grew up in southern California, spending every summer at her grandmother’s house on an offshore island. She was always intensely aware of the sea, standing for hours watching the waves curl endlessly away from the bow of the small ferry that crossed to the island. She earned a BA in Librarianship, partly at UC Berkeley and finally at Melbourne, Australia. Maggie has published a number of children’s books, mostly on conservation and environmental issues. She now lives and works in Bali.

What are your hobbies?

Gardening, reading, classical music, beachcombing.

Where did you get your love of books?

From a loving aunt. I was an unwell, solitary child, and she read to me every day. We shared Kipling’s Just So Stories and the Jungle Books, Alice, many more. I had my own collection of beautifully illustrated poems and fairy tales, and taught myself to read when I was quite small; and then was never lonely.

When did you start to write?

I think every ‘bookish’ child scribbles. I did. Later I had a friend with whom I shared a fantasy world that was very real to us. This is quite common with imaginative children; the Brontes are a famous example.

What person has had the most influence in your life?

Probably my grandmother. She was always there for me. She was a feisty lady with a zest for life and an inexhaustible fund of stories, sayings, songs from her own childhood. Later, Gandhi.

What kinds of work have you done?

Always books! I was the children’s librarian in a large municipal library in Melbourne where I had a wonderfully supportive chief. The kids published their own newspaper, there was story time in every library every week, we had a summer reading program that was wildly popular. Later I moved to the position of advisor to children’s services throughout Victoria. My work included visiting rural libraries, advising on their collections (and a lot of throwing out!). A special grant enabled me to build and equip a storytelling caravan, the “Jolly Jumbuk,” and I traveled with it for two years throughout Victoria. There was a small theatre for films, puppets, and many wonderful picture books. The driver doubled as a clown!

What made you decide to live and work in Bali?

I first visited Indonesia more than thirty years ago. I chose Bali because the culture, the people, the beauty has always enchanted me. Wherever I live I try to work at helping children increase their awareness of the wider world, the global village we all share.

Which of all the books you’ve written are you most proud of?

Black in Focus, a critical analysis of all Australian children’s books with Aboriginal content, published since 1965. Australian racism goes back to the first white invaders, who viewed the indigenous people as less than human, and Aboriginal people are still among the most disadvantaged in the world. I believe cultural attitudes are formed in childhood, and books that enforce racist beliefs can have lasting impact. When I gave a lecture on this in Queensland a group of Murri (Queensland Aboriginal) women asked me to write about it ‘for our children’. We talked about it all night, and eventually this book was the result.

What writing projects are you involved in here in Bali?

The ‘Clean Bali’ series of picture books by Saritaksu Editions, stories that focus on the environment, especially the problems caused by pollution and plastic waste. These have been major concerns of mine since childhood when I often had to dodge garbage when swimming at Catalina Island.

Who reads your books?

In a few parts of Bali and on some other islands thebooks in the ’Clean Bali’ series are included in the school curriculum, either for environmental issues or for language instruction, since they are trilingual (Balinese, Indonesian, English). Turtle and Dolphin has been translated into Spanish for Mexico, and Seagull and Heron is being used in Nepal. The third book in the series, Rajawali and the Children, should be available later this year.

Why do you think a culture of reading has never taken hold in Indonesia?

Indonesia traditionally has had a rich oral culture, and in Bali especially the wonderful stories in the Ramayana, known to every child from temple ceremonies, replace the perceived need for print. And everywhere people have leapfrogged past reading and into the TV age where canned bits and pieces fill the gaps in popular culture. And of course if you have nothing interesting to attract you, if the only books you know are shabby travesties of books, why bother?

Why are there so few public libraries in Bali?

Free public libraries only become possible when governments begin to support them. In Australia all municipal libraries are jointly funded by national and state governments. It is only when a government realizes the importance of an educated, literate, well-informed citizenry that true democracy can flourish. And literacy begins in childhood.

Do you have any future plans?

I’m working on a series of ‘easy readers’ – small, inviting hand-sized books with a simple text and many illustrations. The books will be about ordinary Balinese life and will be attractive, amusing, and invite young people to read. At present there is nothing like this available. But even small books need money to produce, and schools and parents have no money for such ‘extras.’

How may we learn more about your work?

The ‘Clean Bali’ books are available at Ganesha, Periplus, and various other bookshops in Bali. Read about them at www.saritaksu.com.

Copyright © 2010 Al Hickey