A new book by Mununjali author Melissa-Jane Fogarty, NARM-JAAP: A Flinders Street Station History (NAARM-JAAP) offers a powerful reframing of one of Melbourne's most recognisable landmarks.
Centred on the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung understanding of place, the book invites readers to reconsider Flinders Street Station not simply as a transport hub, but as a site of deep cultural and historical significance, one where stories, presence, and connection long predate the built environment.
For the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people, the Traditional Owners of the land on which the station stands, the area is and has always been Country.
Their voices, spirit, and ancestors remain embedded in the place and continue to shape its meaning today.
NARM-JAAP brings this perspective to the forefront, offering a layered narrative that both sits alongside and challenges more familiar colonial histories.
Through its evolution and many forms, NARM-JAAP remains a bustling epicentre of community and a place of meeting.
An author, illustrator, and writer, Fogarty is part of a new generation of First Nations voices reshaping how Australian stories are told.
"To the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung, the Traditional Owners of the land that Flinders Street Station sits on, your voices, your spirit and your ancestors remain in this place, and will forever do so," Fogarty said via Instagram.
Her work centres culture, place, and connection, inviting younger audiences in particular to engage with history in more expansive and meaningful ways.
Timely and thought-provoking, NARM-JAAP opens up broader conversations about place, memory, and how Melbourne understands its most iconic landmarks.
For more fashion, arts, culture and lifestyle news subscribe for free to the Style Up newsletter.
