A Canberra author has won an award that he didn’t even know he was nominated for with his debut children’s book.

National Museum of Australia education manager and Biripi man Adam Duncan’s book, The Bunyip and the Stars, received the Kids in Print accolade at the Australian Museums and Galleries Association Incorporated Awards 2024 earlier this month.

The AMaGA’s annual awards are “dedicated to celebrating, acknowledging, and showcasing achievements within Australia’s museum and gallery sector”.

“The first I heard of it was when it won, which was a really pleasant surprise,” Mr Duncan said.

“I was scheduled to go (to the conference in Ballarat) just as part of the work that I’m currently doing with the museum, but life got in the way.”

Mr Duncan said had he known about the nomination he would have “shuffled” things in his calendar to attend.

“I was lucky enough to have colleagues there to collect the award on my behalf,” he said.

“It’s not a hugely common thing for debut books to get that kind of recognition, so that was a great thing.”

Released in April 2023, The Bunyip and the Stars incorporates First Nations storytelling and mythology.

The book explores the importance of family bonds, connection to Country and the value of shared knowledge.

It was the first in a series of five picture books, by different authors, to be released by the museum.

Each book draws inspiration from the museum’s Tim and Gina Fairfax Discovery Centre, an immersive space for children aged 0 to 6 years old.

Mr Duncan, a preschool teacher, worked on the book with his pupils at the University of Canberra’s Wiradjuri Preschool and Child Care Centre in Bruce. He finished up the role at the end of 2023.

Mr Duncan said his role at the museum came in the wake of Bunyip being released.

He said while he would do no further work on the NMA series, he hoped to further publish more books.

“I’ve got a series of stories that are peripherally related at the moment in that they were developed in the same way Bunyip was (with the same preschool pupils),” Mr Duncan said.

“There’s a bit of writing in the background of the book and it talks about the development of the story with the preschool cohort I was educating at the time.”

“I’ve got about four or five in the chamber, and it will be a matter of having that conversation with interested parties on whether we turn it into books or not.”

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