Larry Buttrose
Encyclopedia
Larry Philip Buttrose is an Australian writer. He is the author of the novels The Maze of the Muse and Sweet Sentence, and the travel books The King Neptune Day & Night Club, and Cafe Royale (also published as The Blue Man). For the stage he has written Kurtz
, his stage adaptation of Heart of Darkness
, and a stage adaptation of Don Quixote, as well as co-writing the hit musical Hot Shoe Shuffle.
, South Australia
, into a working class Anglo-Celtic family. He had a love of books and reading from childhood, and began writing poetry in his early teens
He was educated at Saint Ignatius College and Adelaide University, and at the age of 17 co-founded the poetry magazine Dharma (later titled Real Poetry) with his then partner Donna Maegraith and friend Stephen Measday. While at university he also trained as a journalist
with the Australian Broadcasting Commission
(now Corporation), and after graduating he travelled extensively working as a freelance journalist. He has lived in London
, with stints in Bath and New York
, and gained his PhD
from the University of Adelaide
in 2011. He lives in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney
with his partner Belle and their young daughter Ada. He also has a teenage son, Jack.
.
Tom Thompson at Angus & Robertson
published his first book of travel writing, The King Neptune Day & Night Club in 1992, and the critically acclaimed bestseller Cafe Royale followed in 1997. Lonely Planet
Journeys published it internationally in 1999, retitled The Blue Man.
Two novels followed: The Maze of the Muse (1998), about a young poet who travels to Spain to seek a “Poet’s Blessing” from the English poet Robert Graves
, and Sweet Sentence (2001) set in Pondicherry in India
, and interweaving themes of lost love and political upheaval.
In 2004 he collaborated on the memoir by Michael Hutchence’s
brother Rhett, Total Xcess, for New Holland publishers, and a string of books followed, including Tales of the Popes (2009) and the satirical graphic novel Finding the Shelf Within (2009).
He has also written extensively for the stage, with his produced works including Pallas (1987), Kurtz
(1991), the co-written musical Hot Shoe Shuffle (1992) and Complaints (1996). The ABC has produced two plays for radio, Santo (1986) and Complaints (1993).
He has contributed journalism to Interview and Rolling Stone
, and essays and opinion pieces have been published in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age
and The Australian
. He has also done a number of talks for the ABC’s
Ockham’s Razor programme, is also a keen blog
ger, and teaches at the University of Western Sydney
.
later that year, establishing itself in Surry Hills. They performed at many of the city’s leading venues, including Kinselas, the Tivoli, Stranded and Art Unit. They released a single, Republic of Australia, and in 1983 performed a self-devised play, Scenario X, about the sacking of the Whitlam Government
, at the Nimrod Theatre. The group broke up that year, but in late 1983 Buttrose co-founded The Gap cabaret venue at the Sydney Trade Union Club with his then partner comedienne Mandy Salomon, and their business parnter, Judy Barnsley.
The Gap ran from 1983–1987, and helped launch the careers of a host of performers, including Salomon herself (with whom Buttrose collaborated in a creative partnership), Gretel Killeen
and Julie McCrossin
. Buttrose, Salomon and Barnsley also co-produced the Characters! series at The Gap and at the Sydney Theatre Company’s
Wharf Theatre, showcasing Australia’s new generation of women comics, including Wendy Harmer
, Mary-Anne Fahey
, Gretel Killeen
, Sue Ingleton, Angela Moore, Melanie Salomon, Victoria Roberts and Penny Biggins, and hosted by Mandy Salomon.
In 1986 Buttrose was approached by Mark Morgan of the Harold Park Hotel to start a weekly comedy night, called Comics In The Park. It quickly gained a following from audiences, and a number of Australia’s leading comedians did their first performances there, including Bob Downe (whom Buttrose later managed), Flacco
, Jimeoin
, Kitty Flanagan, and the Umbilical Brothers. Others who performed there included Robin Williams, Vince Sorrenti
, Austen Tayshus
, George Smilovici
, Steve Abbott, and Funny Stories.
and badminton
, and in 2006 co-founded The Carringtonians, a long-running weekly drinks get-together for Blue Mountains writers and others, at the historic Carrington Hotel in Katoomba
.
Kurtz (Heart of Darkness)
Mr. Kurtz is a central fictional character in Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. A trader of ivory in Africa and commander of a trading post, he monopolises his position as a demigod among native Africans. Kurtz meets with the protagonist, Marlow, who returns him to the coast via steamboat...
, his stage adaptation of Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon.The story centres on Charles...
, and a stage adaptation of Don Quixote, as well as co-writing the hit musical Hot Shoe Shuffle.
Personal life
He was born in AdelaideAdelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, into a working class Anglo-Celtic family. He had a love of books and reading from childhood, and began writing poetry in his early teens
He was educated at Saint Ignatius College and Adelaide University, and at the age of 17 co-founded the poetry magazine Dharma (later titled Real Poetry) with his then partner Donna Maegraith and friend Stephen Measday. While at university he also trained as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
with the Australian Broadcasting Commission
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(now Corporation), and after graduating he travelled extensively working as a freelance journalist. He has lived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, with stints in Bath and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and gained his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from the University of Adelaide
University of Adelaide
The University of Adelaide is a public university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third oldest university in Australia...
in 2011. He lives in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
with his partner Belle and their young daughter Ada. He also has a teenage son, Jack.
Career
He published his first collection of poems, One Steps Across The Rainbow in 1974, at the age of 21. His first major collection, The Leichhardt Heater Journey (1982), was the first title in the long-running Friendly Street Poets series. He also co-edited the Number 3 Friendly Street anthology with Peter GoldsworthyPeter Goldsworthy
Peter Goldsworthy AM is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. He has won awards for his short stories, poetry, novels, and opera libretti....
.
Tom Thompson at Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.- Bookselling history...
published his first book of travel writing, The King Neptune Day & Night Club in 1992, and the critically acclaimed bestseller Cafe Royale followed in 1997. Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. The company is owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75% share from the founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler in 2007 and the final 25% in February 2011...
Journeys published it internationally in 1999, retitled The Blue Man.
Two novels followed: The Maze of the Muse (1998), about a young poet who travels to Spain to seek a “Poet’s Blessing” from the English poet Robert Graves
Robert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
, and Sweet Sentence (2001) set in Pondicherry in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and interweaving themes of lost love and political upheaval.
In 2004 he collaborated on the memoir by Michael Hutchence’s
Michael Hutchence
Michael Kelland John Hutchence was an Australian musician and actor. He was the founding lead singer-songwriter of rock band :INXS from 1977 to his death in 1997, a period of twenty years. Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released...
brother Rhett, Total Xcess, for New Holland publishers, and a string of books followed, including Tales of the Popes (2009) and the satirical graphic novel Finding the Shelf Within (2009).
He has also written extensively for the stage, with his produced works including Pallas (1987), Kurtz
Kurtz (Heart of Darkness)
Mr. Kurtz is a central fictional character in Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness. A trader of ivory in Africa and commander of a trading post, he monopolises his position as a demigod among native Africans. Kurtz meets with the protagonist, Marlow, who returns him to the coast via steamboat...
(1991), the co-written musical Hot Shoe Shuffle (1992) and Complaints (1996). The ABC has produced two plays for radio, Santo (1986) and Complaints (1993).
He has contributed journalism to Interview and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, and essays and opinion pieces have been published in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
and The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
. He has also done a number of talks for the ABC’s
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
Ockham’s Razor programme, is also a keen blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, and teaches at the University of Western Sydney
University of Western Sydney
The University of Western Sydney, also known as UWS, is a multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
.
Cabaret and comedy
In 1982 he joined Len Lindon’s innovative comedy cabaret group Quietly Confident. The group moved to SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
later that year, establishing itself in Surry Hills. They performed at many of the city’s leading venues, including Kinselas, the Tivoli, Stranded and Art Unit. They released a single, Republic of Australia, and in 1983 performed a self-devised play, Scenario X, about the sacking of the Whitlam Government
Whitlam Government
The Whitlam Government refers to the federal Executive Government of Australia led by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. It was made up of members of the Australian Labor Party in the Australian Parliament from 1972 to 1975.-Background:...
, at the Nimrod Theatre. The group broke up that year, but in late 1983 Buttrose co-founded The Gap cabaret venue at the Sydney Trade Union Club with his then partner comedienne Mandy Salomon, and their business parnter, Judy Barnsley.
The Gap ran from 1983–1987, and helped launch the careers of a host of performers, including Salomon herself (with whom Buttrose collaborated in a creative partnership), Gretel Killeen
Gretel Killeen
Gretel Killeen is an Australian journalist and author. Killeen is well known for being the primary host of Big Brother Australia from its inception in 2001 until the 2007 season ....
and Julie McCrossin
Julie McCrossin
Julie McCrossin is an Australian radio broadcaster, journalist, comedian and campaigner for women's and gay rights. She is best known for her role as a team captain on the news-based comedy quiz show Good News Week between 1996 and 2000....
. Buttrose, Salomon and Barnsley also co-produced the Characters! series at The Gap and at the Sydney Theatre Company’s
Sydney Theatre Company
The Sydney Theatre Company is one of Australia's best-known theatre companies operating from The Wharf Theatre near The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Sydney Theatre and the Sydney Opera House Drama Theatre....
Wharf Theatre, showcasing Australia’s new generation of women comics, including Wendy Harmer
Wendy Harmer
Wendy Harmer is an Australian author, writer, radio show host, and comedienne.-Early life and career:...
, Mary-Anne Fahey
Mary-Anne Fahey
Mary-Anne Fahey is an Australian actor, comedian and writer.-Biography:Fahey has starred in and written for comedy programs including The Comedy Company, Kittson, Fahey , Get a Life and One Size Fits All...
, Gretel Killeen
Gretel Killeen
Gretel Killeen is an Australian journalist and author. Killeen is well known for being the primary host of Big Brother Australia from its inception in 2001 until the 2007 season ....
, Sue Ingleton, Angela Moore, Melanie Salomon, Victoria Roberts and Penny Biggins, and hosted by Mandy Salomon.
In 1986 Buttrose was approached by Mark Morgan of the Harold Park Hotel to start a weekly comedy night, called Comics In The Park. It quickly gained a following from audiences, and a number of Australia’s leading comedians did their first performances there, including Bob Downe (whom Buttrose later managed), Flacco
Flacco
Flacco is a fictional character played by Australian author and political cartoonist Paul Livingston.Livingston created the character in 1985, when he got up on stage as part of a bet, and the audience mistook his nervousness for a comedic character...
, Jimeoin
Jimeoin
Jimeoin McKeown, who performs under the name Jimeoin , is a stand-up comedian and actor from Northern Ireland. He came to public attention between 2005 and 2008 while performing an "over the top" comedy tour Australia's outback and major cities, which was filmed for the BBC Northern Ireland...
, Kitty Flanagan, and the Umbilical Brothers. Others who performed there included Robin Williams, Vince Sorrenti
Vince Sorrenti
Vince Sorrenti is one of Australia’s best known and leading comic entertainers, a respected and successful Australian stand-up comedian from Punchbowl, New South Wales. He is of Italian heritage. Sorrenti performs at many functions and events, such as the AFL Grand Final Breakfast...
, Austen Tayshus
Austen Tayshus
Austen Tayshus is the stage name of Jewish Australian comedian Alexander Jacob Gutman. He is best known for the comedy single "Australiana", a spoken word piece filled with Australian puns.-Biography:...
, George Smilovici
George Smilovici
George Smilovici is a Cuban-born Australian comedian, the son of Romanian Jewish immigrant parents his father, Dan Sima, left Romania and went to Israel where he met his wife...
, Steve Abbott, and Funny Stories.
Other interests
Buttrose plays squashSquash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
, and in 2006 co-founded The Carringtonians, a long-running weekly drinks get-together for Blue Mountains writers and others, at the historic Carrington Hotel in Katoomba
Katoomba, New South Wales
Katoomba is the chief town of the City of Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia and the administrative headquarters of Blue Mountains City Council. It is on the Great Western Highway 110 kilometres west of Sydney and 39 kilometres south-east of Lithgow. Katoomba railway station is on the...
.
Poetry
- One Steps Across The Rainbow (1974)
- Random Leaves (1978)
- The King Neptune Day & Night Club (1982)
- Learning Italian (1986)
Non-fiction
- Total Xcess (editor/collaborator, 2004)
- People Who Changed the Modern World (2005)
- Powerful & Influential People (2006)
- Dead Famous: Deaths of the Famous and Famous Deaths (2007)
- Tales of the Popes (2009)
- Speeches of War and Peace (2009, Concise edition 2010)
Theatre
- Scenario X (co-creator, 1983)
- 111 Foveaux (co-creator/director 1983)
- Opera Opera! (co-creator/director 1985)
- Rubble (co-creator/director 1987)
- Pallas (1987)
- Kurtz (1991)
- Hot Shoe Shuffle (co-written with Kathryn Riding, 1992)
- Complaints (1996)
Film
- Ozymandias (music film clip, director/producer/narrator, 1986)
- Movietone Memories (1988)
- Gino (feature co-written with Vince Sorrenti, 1993)
Sources
- Ozymandias poetry-music film clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIfNpityBTQ
- Interview with Judyth Piazza, SOP radio networks US http://thesop.org/story/art/2009/12/28/judyth-piazza-chats-with-larry-buttrose-author-of-tales-of-the-popes.php
- Interview with the ABC’s Carol Duncan on Paul Keating’s famous Redfern Speech http://blogs.abc.net.au/nsw/2010/08/paul-keatings-redfern-speech-larry-buttrose.html?site=newcastle&program=newcastle_afternoons
- Book extract from The Blue Man published in The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/travel-songs-of-bitter-experience-1093712.html
- Ockham’s Razor on Science and Religion http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2009/2675731.htm
- Ockham’s Razor, critique of Postmodern Theory http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2006/1785351.htm
- Opinion piece in The Australian on the international crisis of capitalism http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/economic-abyss-awaits/story-e6frg7b6-1111118084331
- Reflections upon surviving a brutal Catholic education, published in the Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/surviving-an-unholy-school-war/2008/05/16/1210765174220.html
- Griffith Review - Profile on Larry Buttrose http://www.griffithreview.com/contributors/larry-buttrose
- Larry Buttrose - Personal blog http://larrybuttrose.blogspot.com/
- Guide to the Papers of Larry Buttrose at The University of New South Wales - http://lib.unsw.adfa.edu.au/speccoll/finding_aids/buttrose_larry.html