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John
Blay CV Oct
1999 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.
In 1997, he wrote for The Republican Weekly and served as its 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. 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 Left Behind
ABC Radio 1998
Outer Nowhere
ABC Radio 1999 (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. 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 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
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