Author(s): Jarrah Dundler (Curated by, Editor); Anastasia Guise (Editor, Curated by, Footnotes by, Interviewer, (various roles)); Jimmy Malecki (Photographer); Jodie Harris (Photographer); Mary Shields (Photographer); Daniel Taylor (Photographer); Saskia Flynn (Illustrator); Jo Evans (Designed by)

Australiana

Fire Stories is a collection of photos and narratives from people from the Northern Rivers of NSW about the 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires. The twenty-seven stories are presented as first-person narratives reflecting on the individuals experiences during the fires and the years and months after. The stories are based on interviews conducted between July 2021 and July 2022 with bushfire survivors, first responders from the RFS, community members who fought the blazes, disaster recovery workers and volunteers, ecologists and wildlife carers, and First Nations people across the Northern Rivers region. Themes explored in narratives include eco-grief, environmental impacts of the fires, community recovery, PTSD and trauma, economic costs of fires, disaster preparedness and response, and climate change. Photos from professional photographers of interview subjects are featured along with photos contributed by community members. The collection is published and edited by authors Jarrah Dundler and Anastasia Guise. Photos by Ben Belle, Mary Shields, Jodie Harris, and Jimmy Malecki. The publication of the book was funded by Resilience NSW's Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Fund.