Australian Catholic University PhD student Melissa 'Mary' O'Neill grew up in a family of story tellers. She remembers how her nan would spin yarns about the strawberries she would grow for the snake in the backyard or about where the family came from and who they were.
It took years for Mary and her cousins to understand what was really being passed on.
"We used to get immersed in my nan's storytelling. She shared everything she knew about our culture and our family," she said.
"She never stopped surprising me or astounding me until she passed away."
As a new grandmother, Ms O'Neill found herself reaching for that same storytelling gift her nan once had with the release of her new book, Bipo and Roo and the Magical Didgeridoo.
It took a long time before she felt brave enough to put her work out there and Bipo and Roo sat on her hard drive for four years before a simple realisation convinced her to take a leap.
"I wanted my grandkids to remember me like I remember my nan. I wanted to be an awe-inspiring person in their lives, like she was to me," she said.
Bipo and Roo is the tale of two brothers travelling through time using a magical yidaki (sometimes referred to as a didgeridoo). The pair travel back to a land of volcanoes and dinosaurs, to ancient Egypt and a pharaoh with golden rings, onto a pirate ship commanded by a sword-bearing captain, and finally to the Dreamtime, where culture was shared through song and verse.
Ms O'Neill has three grandsons: Brooklyn, Reggie and Zephyr. Bipo's name is drawn from Brooklyn's initials; Roo is Reggie, her rooster. On the book's final page, there's an image of a new arrival - that's Zephyr.
She sees writing as a continuation of her lifelong love of learning. At the age of 20, Ms O'Neill enrolled in an Away From Base teaching degree at ACU, completing it in 2004 while pregnant and working full-time.
She went on to lecture at ACU in Aboriginal education before building a career in child and family services in Wagga Wagga, where she has now lived for 25 years, and across the Riverina and Murray regions.
"For me Education takes many forms. Its sitting and listening, writing and sharing stories, being creative, painting, being connected to family or in a classroom," she said.
"Bringing Bipo and Roo to life has been a deeply meaningful part of this journey. Through their adventures and connections, I have been able to weave in our stories and art, creating something that is not only for our family, but for all families to connect with and enjoy."
Now on her PhD journey at ACU, beginning in 2026, Ms O'Neill's research focuses on cultural supervision: how Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander leaders working in non-Indigenous institutions can be supported in ways that honour, rather than erase, who they are. A theme that is embedded in Bipo and Roo.
"The messaging in the book is direct but not harsh," she said. "It's about how do we find a way to invite people in? And that's all about sharing. We're sharing who we are. We're not apologising for who we are, we're grounded in who we are."
That work and her new journey as a children's author is underpinned by a piece of advice from her nan that she's carried for decades; be authentically you, and you can never get it wrong.
"I'm doing it for family, for my kids and my grandkids, and for me. In the end, that's what matters most," she said.
