Brenton McKenna

Author, Education Consultant, Entertainment, First Nations, Illustrator, Storyteller

Brenton Mckenna is Australia’s first published Graphic Novelist and Newspaper Cartoonist. He is a Yawuru man from Broome WA who turned his love of comic books as a kid into a thriving career spanning two decades. Brenton shares his experience and secrets to becoming a comic creator while drawing you into your own mad world of ideas to create from.

Where were you born?

I was born in Broome WA (Rubibi)

What other jobs have you had?

Night club Bouncer, Meat worker, Clontarf Mentor, Premier’s correspondence officer, Health Promotions officer, Personal Trainer, Aboriginal teacher’s Aid.
What themes are recurring in your work?
Reading through pictures, MONSTERS!! Ghosts stories from Australia’s top end, Junior fiction, horror, red dirt, Adventures, friendship, family, folklore, mythology, mystery, urban myth, humour, more monsters!

What have been the highlights of your career?

Special guest speaker at U.S. National Book Day 2019
Special guest Edinburgh International Book Festival 2015
Special guest at Bangalore Writer’s Festival 2014
Being recognised as Australia’s first Indigenous published Graphic Novelist.

Where have your works been published?

Australia

What are you passionate about?

Comic books, Cartooning, Ghost stories, teaching and listening to others about personal stories. Problem solving through story creation and Wrestling (all sorts).

Haven’t I seen you before?

I often get mistaken for Jay Laga’aia from Play School so maybe from that otherwise I’ve been visiting schools and book festivals around Australia doing cartooning workshops and talking ghost stories. Maybe I visited your class.

Anything else you’d like to share with us?

Of all the people in my family, I struggled with reading the most. I didn’t actually read comics, I just loved the pictures and slowly got into it from there. I also love Heavy Metal and M&M’s.