John
Blay
A
brief CV
John
Blay, writer and naturalist, was born at Parramatta in 1944 and has
written extensively about the bush and its people in prose, drama and poetry.
In 1982, he
discovered a new species of wattle in the Brogo wilderness. Growing to
over 30 metres, the species was named Acacia blayana in his honour.
He has served as a national
Arts & Reviews Editor and has published photographs and stories in
magazines like Good Weekend. He is currently undertaking a major
project in the SE Forests and writing about the region's natural history.
A
selection of his photographs was exhibited in Sydney in November
2004.
PUBLICATIONS
AS A WRITER INCLUDE:
POETRY: various anthologies, magazines and newspapers
including The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Canberra Times,
Australian Poetry Now, etc
”...In his fragmented, exciting space-age poems, John Blay seems to have
arrived at that vital apprehension of his own time which has been
necessary to most good poetry in English since the 16th century...”
Sylvia Lawson, The
Australian
...Of the many poets who attempt non-traditional forms,
Blay is one of the few to succeed...”
Roger McDonald, Makar
PLAYS: (include)
BEDBUG
CELEBRATION Pram
Factory
1981
“...Plenty of life in Richard Murphett’s production to
see out a decade of alternative theatre in the Pram Factory... a
stimulating experience.”
Paul Heinrichs, National Times
“...a roistering satire inspired by the work of Mayakovsky
and the Russian futurists...”
Stuart
Sayers, The Age
Vinegar Hill
ABC
Radio 1972
The Journeys of Aubrey D
ABC Radio 1974
“...a 2 1/2 hour program which will be recognised as one of
the most important developments in Australian radio...”
Maurice Dunlevy, Canberra
Times
“...stunning sound odyssey... the
most imaginative use to date of the radio medium by an Australian and
ranking with anything done overseas...”
Ralph Wilson,
Sight and Sound
Mayakovsky
ABC Radio
1972
Harpur
ABC Radio
1974
Doin’ our Best to Deny It
ABC Radio
1975
The Great Village Dream
ABC
Radio
1976
Variations on a Theme of the Lyrebird
ABC Radio
1987
The Jazz Singer
ABC Radio
1987
The Fleet
ABC Radio
1988
(All over an hour in duration)
PROSE:
Part of the Scenery
McPhee
Gribble/Penguin 1984
“...Thanks to its over-riding good humour, it has the spontaneity of Richard
Brautigan’s rewriting of Thoreau’s Walden.
It’s a wonderful book of characters and things that clamber
through the forest with details delivered with a confident poetic
touch.”
— Tom Thompson, National Times
“...There are no shallow panegyrics in Part of the Scenery about
pre-industrial paradises in nature, nothing
facile about the attainment of spiritual oneness.
Blay speaks to us of hard work, experiment and emotional
desperation. But his
quiet expertise about lyrebirds and bushrats in his Bermagui forest never
fails to impress and fascinate...”
-- David
Myers, Sydney Morning
Herald
Back
Country
Methuen
1987
“...the prose is as tough as the salt pork that the likes of Eyre and John
McDouall Stuart used to gnaw at when they were lost...
his encounters with bush people and reflections on the infinite—
all contribute to a bracing read...
It’s a rewarding experience to follow”
— Derek Whitelock,
Sydney Morning Herald
“...the
text is peppered with sensitive observations on the country through which
he travels and the people he meets. Most
of the writing is brisk and good humoured, including lively episodes which
display the skill of a practiced playwright...
It kept taking me back in fond imaginative memory to Ovid and the
child in David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life.”
— Ray Ericksen, Habitat
“...more
in the tradition of English narratives of long walks in strange and lonely
places. Blay is a
professional writer and it shows in his robust text which attains a
plateau of excellence not often reached by writers about the bush...
a classic tale”
— Graeme Barrow, The Canberra Times
The
Australian Native Plant Gardener's Almanac
Wildlife Presentations 1994
”It doesn't matter if you don't plant anything, this book is so practical
and so beautifully designed you'll wish you wanted to”
Susan Geason, The Sun
Herald
The Australian Wildflower Diary
Wildlife
Presentations 1995
The Australian Native Plant
Gardener's Almanac
2nd
Edition Wildlife
Presentations 1995
SCREENPLAYS:
BOBBY THUNDERBOLT
Arenafilm
JOURNALISM
& REVIEWS: Sydney Morning Herald,
Canberra Times, National Times, Books & Writing, Good Weekend, Arts
& Reviews Editor: The Republican, Australian Geographic, The
Australian Literary Review...
AWARDS:
Farmers Poetry Prize
1969
Young Writers Fellowship
1972
New Writers Fellowship
1973
Writers Fellowship
1975
Creative Writing Fellowship
1975
Senior Writers Fellowship
1980
Parks Writers Award
1981
Bicentennial Commission
1987
Australian History Award
2002
Australian History Award
2003
FILM
DEVELOPMENT GRANTS:
Australian Film Commission
1988
Australian Film Commission
1989
Australian Film Commission
1990
Australian Film Commission
1991
EDITOR:
Arts & Reviews
The Republican
1997/8
Arts & Reviews
The New Republican 1998/99
