It's OK to be a CryBaby with Mabel Gibson

Join Yamatji writer Mabel Gibson as she shares CryBaby, her raw and powerful debut collection that traces growing up, grief, and identity through vivid micro memoirs spanning life from two to twenty-five.

CryBaby Mabel's highly anticipated collection of micro memoir. Moving across distinct landscapes in Western Australia, the 56 dreamy and fragmented moments in this collection chronicle Mabel’s life from the age of two to twenty-five. They tell her story as a young First Nations woman who, despite the consuming storms of personal challenges and grief, finds her voice and strength as a writer.

In a style that is riveting, honest and relatable, Mabel addresses issues that affect all young people- mental health, love, loss, and the unfixed nature of identity. With unvarnished layers of truth and insight, the collection will leave you breathless and in awe of this talented and groundbreaking Australian writer.

About Mabel:

Mabel Gibson is a Yamatji writer. Her micro memoir has been published in Maar Bidi: Next Generation Black Writers (Magabala Books), in four Night Parrot Press anthologies and in Pulch Mag (Centre for Stories). Her micro memoir collection CryBaby was published by Night Parrot Press in 2025. Mabel has appeared on a number of festival panels and has run micro memoir writing workshops in community centres and at high schools. In 2024 she judged the Short But Deadly First Nations Flash Prize for the Centre for Stories.