Project to help Bourke youth through storytelling

Former Bourke boy and Walkley award winning journalist Allan Clarke hopes to inspire Bourke youngsters in the art of storytelling. Inset photos above l-r: Shakyle Orcher learning to record interviews, Shakia and Dane Edwards, Allan Clarke being interviewed by Dane Edwards and Jamilla Smith operating the camera PHOTO SUPPLIED

A new project is being launched in Bourke for young people to take part in creating an oral history for the community.

Called the Spirit Project, it will inspire young people to connect with family and community and engage with local and family histories.

By participating, young people will get the chance to learn interviewing and movie making skills, and engage in storytelling and other forms of expression.

Their work will be displayed online through their videos, photographs, writing and other forms of media and will give them an important role in creating their own Bourke oral history.

The Spirit project is led by Walkley award winning journalist Allan Clarke who was born and raised in Bourke.

Allan is passionate about giving young indigenous people a voice, preserving the elders’ stories and sharing his own story and skills with the children of Bourke.

He is also involved in a documentary film, “From Bourke with Love”, which will include parts of the oral history project.

Allan is the driving force behind the project and wants to capture and preserve the stories of the elders before they passed away.

Read more in the printed edition of the Western Herald.