James Mascia is hosting a crowdfunding campaign for a Peter Pan anthology book Tales from Neverland – and a story scripted by myself is in the mix.
Hayden Fryer illustrated Never Never Land, a story that maps on the experiences of Barrie’s characters Wendy, Michael and John, to the life of Australian illustrator May Gibbs.
Starting in 1888, when Gibbs and her family moved from England to Western Australia, my story was intended to challenge some of J.M. Barrie’s colonial assumptions. I also wanted to marry this to Gibbs and how she took inspiration from Australia for her Snugglepot and Cuddlepie stories for children.
Setting out to explore these ideas, I wanted to check my own colonial assumptions as an emigrant to Australia. I was put in contact with Kathryn G. Gledhill / @chipswoon for a sensitivity review. Hayden and I are very grateful to Kat for her considered assessment of my script.
In particular Kat caught me leaning on the trope of the romanticised ‘wild, untamed land’, such a common feature of adventure fiction that ignores the perspectives of the people who lived there, understood the country and were blithely dismissed as historical subjects. This is why hiring a sensitivity reader is essential.
A page from Never Never Land, written by Emmet O’Cuana, art by Hayden Fryer and letters by Cardinal Rae.
Thanks also to the very busy – and for good reason – Cardinal Rae for lettering Never Never Land. This is the second time I have worked with Cardinal and I continue to be amazed.
….I will also be a broken record on this point, read Crowded! It’s amazing. As I go on at length about here.
At the time of writing, Tales From Neverland is almost halfway through its campaign. If you ever loved the story of a boy and his shadow with a mind of its own, a girl who had to decide if she really wanted to grow up, and a certain deadly pirate ship Captain – take a look at James’s campaign and throw some doubloons his way!