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{{Short description|Australian writer}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox writer
'''Larry Philip Buttrose''' (born 16 December 1952) is an Australian writer.<ref>National Library of Australia listing for Larry Buttrose – Australian Writer – http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/458941?q=larry+buttrose&c=people</ref> 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 (Heart of Darkness)|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]]''.
| embed =
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Larry Buttrose
| honorific_suffix =
| image = Larry Buttrose in Leura, NSW January-2024.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Larry Buttrose, in Leura 2024
| pseudonym =
| occupation = Australian Writer and Journalist
| language = English
| nationality = Australian
| citizenship = Australian
| spouse =
| relatives =
}}
'''Larry Philip Buttrose''' (born 16 December 1952) is an Australian writer, journalist and academic.<ref>National Library of Australia listing for Larry Buttrose – Australian Writer – http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/458941?q=larry+buttrose&c=people</ref> He is the [[ghostwriter]] of the [[Saroo Brierley]] memoir ''[[A Long Way Home (book)|A Long Way Home]]''<ref>Listing for 'Long Way Home' at the National Library of Australia - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/178430398</ref> (adapted for the screen as the major international feature film ''[[Lion (2016 film)|Lion]]'').


== Personal life ==
== Personal life ==
⚫
Buttrose was born in [[Adelaide]], South Australia. At the age of 17 he co-founded the poetry magazine ''Dharma'' (later titled ''Real Poetry'') with his then partner Donna Maegraith and friend Stephen Measday. While at university he trained as a journalist with the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|Australian Broadcasting Commission]], and after graduating he worked as a freelance journalist. He gained his PhD from the [[University of Adelaide]] in 2011. He has two children, and lives in Sydney.
Buttrose was born in [[Adelaide]], 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 Corporation|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, Somerset|Bath]] and New York, and gained his PhD from the [[University of Adelaide]] in 2011. He lives in the [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]] outside Sydney with his partner Belle and their young daughter Ada. He also has a teenage son, Jack.


== Career ==
== Career ==
Buttrose 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 Goldsworthy]].
Buttrose 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 Goldsworthy]]. [[Angus & Robertson]] published Buttrose's first book of travel writing, ''The King Neptune Day & Night Club'' in 1992, and the critically acclaimed best-seller ''Cafe Royale'' (later retitled ''The Blue Man'') followed in 1997. In 2004, he collaborated on the memoir by [[Michael Hutchence]]'s brother Rhett, ''Total Xcess'', and other books followed, including ''Tales of the Popes'' (2009) and the satirical graphic novel ''Finding the Shelf Within'' (2009).

Tom Thompson at [[Angus & Robertson]] published Buttrose's first book of travel writing, ''The King Neptune Day & Night Club'' in 1992, and the critically acclaimed best-seller ''Cafe Royale'' followed in 1997. [[Lonely Planet]] Journeys published it internationally in 1999, retitled as ''The Blue Man''.


⚫
He has also written extensively for the stage, his produced works including ''Pallas'' (1987), ''[[Kurtz (Heart of Darkness)|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).
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 [[Puducherry]] in India, and interweaving themes of lost love and political upheaval.


He has contributed journalism to ''[[Roadrunner (Australian music magazine)]]'' and ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', and opinion to various newspapers.
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).


His best known book is ''[[A Long Way Home (book)|A Long Way Home]]'', the [[Saroo Brierley]] memoir, which he ghost-wrote in 2012. He researched and wrote the book between September and December of that year, including research trips to [[Hobart]] to interview Saroo and his family, and a month-long journey to [[India]] with Saroo. There he met Saroo's Indian family, and travelled with Saroo on a rail journey across India, retracing for the first time the journey that Saroo took two and a half decades before as a young child, that ended him in Calcutta (now [[Kolkata]]). Buttrose completed the book in his Kolkata hotel room.
⚫
He has also written extensively for the stage, his produced works including ''Pallas'' (1987), ''[[Kurtz (Heart of Darkness)|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 also taught writing and media at various Australian universities. He holds a PhD in creative writing from Adelaide University (2011).
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 [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC's]] [[Ockham's Razor]] programme, is also a keen blogger, and teaches at the [[University of Western Sydney]].


== Cabaret and comedy ==
== Cabaret and comedy ==
In 1982 Buttrose joined Len Lindon's innovative comedy cabaret group Quietly Confident. The group moved to 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 partner, Judy Barnsley.
In 1982 Buttrose joined Len Lindon's innovative comedy cabaret group Quietly Confident. The group moved to 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,<ref>"Republic of Australia" video clip - https://roadrunnertwice.com.au/2015/03/quietly-confident-republic-of-australia-2/</ref> 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 comedian Mandy Salomon, and their business partner, 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, poet Pam Brown, Sarah Miller (Told by an Idiot) and hosted by Mandy Salomon.
The Gap ran from 1983 to 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, poet Pam Brown, Sarah Miller (Told by an Idiot) 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.
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), [[Paul Livingston|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.


== Other interests ==
== Other interests ==
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== Books ==
== Books ==

=== Novels ===
=== Novels ===
* ''The Maze of the Muse''<ref>Record of Book held at [[National Library of Australia]] first published in 1998 in Pymble, N.S.W.: By Flamingo Press http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/388473</ref> (1998)
* ''The Maze of the Muse''<ref>Record of Book held at [[National Library of Australia]] first published in 1998 in Pymble, N.S.W.: By Flamingo Press http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/388473</ref> (1998)
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=== Humour and graphic novel ===
=== Humour and graphic novel ===
* ''Finding The Shelf Within'' (2009)
* ''Finding The Shelf Within'' (2009)

=== Short story collection ===

* ''Everyone on Mars'' (2024)


=== Travel ===
=== Travel ===
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* ''Ozymandias'' (music film clip, director/producer/narrator, 1986)
* ''Ozymandias'' (music film clip, director/producer/narrator, 1986)
* ''Movietone Memories'' (1988)
* ''Movietone Memories'' (1988)
* ''Gino'' (feature co-written with Vince Sorrenti, 1993)
* ''[[Gino (film)|Gino]]'' (feature co-written with [[Vince Sorrenti]], 1993)


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* Ozymandias poetry-music film clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIfNpityBTQ
* Ozymandias poetry-music film clip https://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 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 ABC's Carol Duncan on Paul Keating's famous Redfern Speech https://web.archive.org/web/20120424013830/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 https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/travel-songs-of-bitter-experience-1093712.html
⚫
* 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
⚫
* 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
⚫
* 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
* 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
* 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
* Griffith Review – Profile on Larry Buttrose http://www.griffithreview.com/contributors/larry-buttrose
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==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttrose, Larry}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttrose, Larry}}
[[Category:Australian writers]]
[[Category:Writers from New South Wales]]
[[Category:Writers from New South Wales]]
[[Category:People from New South Wales]]
[[Category:Writers from Adelaide]]
[[Category:People from Adelaide]]
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Latest revision as of 00:52, 3 August 2024

Larry Buttrose
Larry Buttrose, in Leura 2024
Larry Buttrose, in Leura 2024
OccupationAustralian Writer and Journalist
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAustralian
CitizenshipAustralian

Larry Philip Buttrose (born 16 December 1952) is an Australian writer, journalist and academic.[1] He is the ghostwriter of the Saroo Brierley memoir A Long Way Home[2] (adapted for the screen as the major international feature film Lion).

Personal life

[edit]

Buttrose was born in Adelaide, South Australia. At the age of 17 he co-founded the poetry magazine Dharma (later titled Real Poetry) with his then partner Donna Maegraith and friend Stephen Measday. While at university he trained as a journalist with the Australian Broadcasting Commission, and after graduating he worked as a freelance journalist. He gained his PhD from the University of Adelaide in 2011. He has two children, and lives in Sydney.

Career

[edit]

Buttrose 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 Goldsworthy. Angus & Robertson published Buttrose's first book of travel writing, The King Neptune Day & Night Club in 1992, and the critically acclaimed best-seller Cafe Royale (later retitled The Blue Man) followed in 1997. In 2004, he collaborated on the memoir by Michael Hutchence's brother Rhett, Total Xcess, and other 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, 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 Roadrunner (Australian music magazine) and Rolling Stone, and opinion to various newspapers.

His best known book is A Long Way Home, the Saroo Brierley memoir, which he ghost-wrote in 2012. He researched and wrote the book between September and December of that year, including research trips to Hobart to interview Saroo and his family, and a month-long journey to India with Saroo. There he met Saroo's Indian family, and travelled with Saroo on a rail journey across India, retracing for the first time the journey that Saroo took two and a half decades before as a young child, that ended him in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Buttrose completed the book in his Kolkata hotel room.

He has also taught writing and media at various Australian universities. He holds a PhD in creative writing from Adelaide University (2011).

Cabaret and comedy

[edit]

In 1982 Buttrose joined Len Lindon's innovative comedy cabaret group Quietly Confident. The group moved to 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,[3] 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 comedian Mandy Salomon, and their business partner, Judy Barnsley.

The Gap ran from 1983 to 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, poet Pam Brown, Sarah Miller (Told by an Idiot) 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.

Other interests

[edit]

Buttrose plays squash 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.

Books

[edit]

Novels

[edit]
  • The Maze of the Muse[4] (1998)
  • Sweet Sentence (2001)

Humour and graphic novel

[edit]
  • Finding The Shelf Within (2009)

Short story collection

[edit]
  • Everyone on Mars (2024)

Travel

[edit]
  • The King Neptune Day & Night Club (1992)[5]
  • Cafe Royale (1997)/The Blue Man (1999)[6]

Poetry

[edit]
  • One Steps Across The Rainbow (1974)
  • Random Leaves (1978)
  • The King Neptune Day & Night Club (1982)
  • Learning Italian (1986)

Non-fiction

[edit]
  • 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)[7]
  • Tales of the Popes (2009)[8]
  • Speeches of War and Peace (2009, Concise edition 2010)

Theatre

[edit]
  • 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)

Radio plays

[edit]
  • Santo (1986)
  • Complaints (1993)

Film

[edit]
  • Ozymandias (music film clip, director/producer/narrator, 1986)
  • Movietone Memories (1988)
  • Gino (feature co-written with Vince Sorrenti, 1993)

Sources

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ National Library of Australia listing for Larry Buttrose – Australian Writer – http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/458941?q=larry+buttrose&c=people
  2. ^ Listing for 'Long Way Home' at the National Library of Australia - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/178430398
  3. ^ "Republic of Australia" video clip - https://roadrunnertwice.com.au/2015/03/quietly-confident-republic-of-australia-2/
  4. ^ Record of Book held at National Library of Australia first published in 1998 in Pymble, N.S.W.: By Flamingo Press http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/388473
  5. ^ The King Neptune Day & Night Club by Larry Buttrose, part of the Trove collection at the National Library of Australia – http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34862789?
  6. ^ Cafe Royale by Larry Buttrose. Book held in the Trove collection at National Library of Australia – http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/14981514?
  7. ^ 'Dead Famous' by Larry Buttrose – Published by New Holland – Entry for book on publishers website -http://www.newholland.com.au/product.php?isbn=9781741105643
  8. ^ Tales of The Popes by Larry Buttrose. Published by New Holland 2009 – Trove Collection at the National Library of Australia http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/25998660?
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