Bryce Courtenay interviewed by Diana Ritch [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 399698
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Courtenay, Bryce, 1933-2012, interviewee
- Online Version:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 1991 Mar. 6
- 5 sound tape reels (ca. 151 min.)
- Summary:
-
Bryce Courtenay talks about his early family life in Barberton, South Africa; the Boys Farm school, Duiwelskloof; his family; the theories relating to different life approaches of coastal people, mountain people and plains people; family myths; his mother's high expectation for her son; the exploits of his ancestors, dating back to the Crusades; the impact of childhood poverty on his life; winning a scholarship to a prestigious boy's school in South Africa and the weight of family expectations on him; his adolescent years at secondary school; his relationship with mother who had discovered religion through the Assembly of God church; leaving school and planning for his future education; funding his education, working in an underground copper mine in Northern Rhodesia, as a 'grizzly man'; leaving South Africa after questioning apartheid; studying journalism in London; working his passage to Australia; his first glimpses of Sydney and the first people he met [around 1955]; early years working in Sydney; being offered work at an advertising agency and within 5 years being creative director of the McCann Erickson agency; his marriage and three sons; his son's battle with haemophilia and death.
Courtenay discusses the years between, 1960-1980; at the age 45 (1978) vowing to quit bad habits and get fit; his back operation and immobilization and planning the next phase of his life which was to start his own ad agency, run it for 10 years, sell it to a multinational then become a world famous writer; how his rehabilitation involved swimming and running; marathon running; his theories about life as a business leader; selling his advertising agency; working as the creative director for George Patterson advertising; at night, writing his first book 'The Power of One', his late night writing regime; Jill Hickson; the publishing rights being put up for auction in New York, the process; negotiating the film rights for the book; literary criticism; his second novel 'Tandia'; the causes of racial disharmony in South Africa and Australia; racial tolerance; cross cultural understanding; his story telling devices, imparting a message of hope; human evolution relating to creative process; the role of the right and left sides of the brain; theories about aboriginal dreaming; memory and fiction; storytelling being fundamental to humanity.
- Notes:
- Also available online http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-216939122
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary (4 leaves) and transcript (typescript, 75 leaves) available.
- Subject:
- Occupation:
- Authors
- Other authors/contributors:
- Ritch, Diana, 1943-, interviewer
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2061 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 1991
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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