Interviews

Bryce Courtenay

Bryce Courtenay is a man of strong convictions; he readily acknowledges the power of myths and storytelling. He creates his stories by calling on his genetic and environmental inheritance, listening to the voices of his people and mixing it with the contemporary times and forces he lives with, ‘like a bowl of museli with many ingredients thrown in. Anne E Stewart interviewed him when he delivered the Dromkeen Luncheon Address……. Read full article here

 

 

 

 

Gael Cresp

Gael first entertained the idea of becoming a storyteller in 1981 whilst undertaking a unit of ‘storytelling’ as part of her Graduate Diploma in Children’s Literature. The medium appealed to her and it became apparent that she had that intrinsic ability needed to be a storyteller. Pace, timing and conscious choice of story was to come later. Although she credits 1984 as the beginning of this career her father maintains that ‘she has been telling stories all her life’

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Graham Langley

There’s something deliciously conspiratal about Graham Langley, especially when he tells stories. Long and lanky, he drapes himself about the story, swaying in and out of the action. He paints pictures in your head as he takes you on a journey using colouful imagery, words, local vernacular, body language and heightened emotions………………

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John Marsden

John Marsden is a man of ‘generous wisdom’ and proclaimed ‘Poet Laureate of Australian teenagers’. A romantic notion but one John questions, he wonders whether teenagers would even know what it means. He ponders the ‘weird situation’ of a fifty year old man giving teenagers a voice but he does concede that maybe he ‘brings a perspective to the voice, a reflective ability gained with age and experience.’  Read full article here

 

 

 

 

Pauline McLeod

A childhood story that Pauline McLeod instantly recalls is the tale of Peter and the Wolf. You all know it. Peter is told he must remain in the garden or the wolf will get him. But does he listen to his grandfather? Oh no! The young boy has no fear of the wolf. But how does an aboriginal woman whose ancestors come from the south coast of New South Wales and the Adelaide area come to have this story prominently in her psyche? Sad to say, Pauline was one of the stolen generation and she heard the story from her adoptive German parents. Becoming a storyteller set Pauline on the road home to find her aboriginality. Read full article here

 

 

Boori Pryor

He introduces himself as Monty Pryor; his aboriginal name was only given to him recently by an uncle. Boori means fire and it was the gift of this name that gave him the strength and the determination to continue the legacy of passing on his culture as the family’s storyteller    Read full article here

 

 

 

 

Graham Ross

Graham brings considerable experience as an educator and entertainer to his storytelling, with over thirty years’ experience teaching at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. His emphasis through these years was ‘to use storytelling as a vehicle for language learning and cultural teaching’ and prepare teachers ‘to appreciate cultural diversity’ and to ‘teach English to speakers of other languages.’ Read full article here

 

 

 

 

Pat Torres

When I talk to children at schools I separate one strand of my hair and remind them that white man’s history in Australia is like this compared to our history, my whole head of hair.”

“These are the stories of my land and my people,” says Torres. “But you must be aware that you should never generalise about Aboriginal people. Our Kimberley stories, our traditions, they are not the same as the stories and culture of other indigenous people of Australia.”     Read full article here

 

 

Jan Wositzky

It’s hard to know where to start with Wositzky’s story because he enjoys exploring all the twists and turns in his life’s path. But to give you a sense of the man we must go back to his arrival in Australia. He immigrated to Australia with his Czech-Scots family in 1956 as a very young boy and herein lies the earliest influences on his work. One of the strengths of his storytelling is ability to have his audience empathize with his characters. Wositzky tells a poignant and humorous account of these early days. He’s a young lad who cops a fair bit of flake  for having such an ethnic name. Although we laugh, you feel for the small boy. Was it this early displacement that has seen him travel far and wide in the search of his own story?

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