Louis Nowra is an acclaimed playwright, novelist and screenwriter and may be best known for his works Cosi and Summer of the Aliens. Since the early 1970s Louis has been writing stage plays (including opera libretti and translations), films, novels, short stories, and scripts for radio and television. In 1995, Cosi was successfully brought to the big screen by director Mark Joffe. Ben Mendelsohn played the role of Lewis, who began a job staging theatre productions in a state mental home. The film is colourful and energetic and has a star cast including Toni Collette, David Wenham, Rachel Griffiths, Jacki Weaver and Barry Otto. Louis also took part in the conference Secret Self: Exploring Biography and Autobiography held at the National Library in October 2001. In 2002, Louis’ biography on Shane Warne, Warne’s World, was published. Louis describes the books as ‘less a biography than a wide-ranging appreciation of Warne’s supreme gifts as a cricketer. It takes in his follies, his boofhead behaviour, the scandals, and the influence of television in making him so popular.’ On Sunday 8 May, Louis Nowra will be at the National Library appearing in the first of the Friends new literary series, Author! Author!. The event will begin at 3.30 pm and will be held in the Library’s delightful café bookplate. Afternoon tea will be provided and there will be plenty of time for questions and book signing. Miles Franklin: A Brilliant Career? is a travelling exhibition on its way to the National Library of Australia. It was curated by Paul Brunton, Senior Curator of the Mitchell Library at the State Library of New South Wales. When Miles Franklin died on 19 September 1954 she left her complete personal archive to the State Library of New South Wales. It includes over 7000 letters, family papers dating back to 1841, her entire library of printed books, photo albums and personal belongings. Miles Franklin’s first novel, My Brilliant Career, was published in 1901 and although she published 15 books thereafter she believed that nothing would match her successful first novel. The exhibition will open at the National Library on 23 April and will close on 17 July. Don’t miss this comprehensive and fascinating exhibition highlighting Franklin’s little-known career overseas, including her pioneering work with the Women’s Trade Union League in Chicago from 1908 to 1915, and her work as a cook in Macedonia during World War I.
The Friends are organising a day bus trip to Brindabella Station and environs, the home of Miles Franklin. The day will include talks by the current owners, Brian and Mena Barlin on the environment in which Miles Franklin lived. Participants will also view the stations buildings, have a tour of the spectacular gardens, and receive morning tea and lunch. Two trips are being planned, for Thursday 21 April and for Saturday 30 April (9 am – 4:45 pm). LAUREN
DONALD |
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