FREE DRAMA!!

"I have as many relatives as the number of hexagrams in the I Ching, and thought this was significant back in the days when I didn’t eat meat and chopped firewood in a sarong."

                      from Taking America Out of the Boy

Born in Orlando, Florida, in 1947 - the only son of a wandering West Virginia couple, Stoneking migrated to Australia in 1972 after surviving nearly twenty years of formal education. 

"The bumper stickers said 'America - Love it or leave it' so I left."

From 1972 to 1976, he taught English to farm kids at Lake Bolac (Victoira), before heading to the Northern Territory, where his son, blues musician & composer, CW Stoneking, was born.

"To keep myself alert and interested in living, I have written poetry, plays, screenplays, fiction, historical non-fiction, and criticism."

His published work includes the modern Australian classic, Singing the Snake (Harper/Collins, 1990); and the equally-good though less-classic, Lasseter : In Quest of Gold (Hodder & Stoughton, 1989).

In the early 1980s, Stoneking edited The Stories of Obed Raggett, the first published collection of original stories written by an Aboriginal writer in his own language (published bi-lingually in Pintupi/English parallel text).

His poetry has appeared in The Oxford Book of Modern Australian Verse (ed. by Les Murray) and The Penguin Book of Contemporary Australian Poetry (ed. by John Tranter). He was also among the featured "performance poets" in Pi O's groundbreaking cult anthology, Off the Record (Penguin Books, 1985), and was the editor of the popular poetry website, Performance Poetry, at Suite101.com., from 1999 to 2004. His "auto-fictography", Taking America Out of the Boy, was published by Hodder Spectrum in 1993.

In 1991, he co-wrote and staged the first-ever poet-written, poet-acted and produced, verse play, Call It Poetry/Tonight, at the Sydney Theatre Company's Studio Theatre at the Wharf. The subject of a major television documentary (which he also produced), entitled Call It Poetry, the doco aired on ABC-TV in the mid-90s and subsequently throughout Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.

His first, full-length dramatic play, Sixteen Words For Water (Harper/Collins,  1991), has been acclaimed everywhere it has been performed, including seasons in New York, Dublin, London, Sydney, and New Zealand. Its most recent incarnation, with Tim Robertson playing Ezra Pound, premiered at Melbourne's Carlton Courthouse Theatre in March, 2005. It has also enjoyed successful seasons in Washington (Harlequin Productions), and at the legendary Miniature Theatre in the Berkshires (Massachusetts, USA), as well as important Australian productions in Perth (Black Swan) and Hobart. In the late-90s, ABC Radio National produced a radio version with Pamela Rabe and Simon Chilvers in the leading roles. 

Other plays include The Singing Land (CAT production, Sydney, 1993) and the poetry-play, Off Limits, which premiered at the Sydney Opera House in 1992, featuring Billy and actor, Roger Rynd. A radio play  (Baby) and a one-act (The Rite) produced by the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia, are also among his many theatre credits.

In the late 1980s, Stoneking "paid the rent" writing episodes for Paramount Television’s Mission:Impossible (which was filmed entirely in Australia); and was creator/writer of the award-winning, ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) television drama series, Stringer.

Among his numerous script-editing credits is the Australian film, Chopper, which topped the awards list at the 2000 AFI Awards in Sydney.

Much of Stoneking's work has been influenced and continues to be influenced by his long association with tribal Aboriginal people. From 1978 to 1983, he lived and worked at Papunya Aboriginal Settlement (275 kms west of Alice Springs, N.T.) where he collected and published stories and other materials in the local dialect [Pintupi/Luritja] for use in the Papunya outstations’ bi-lingual reading programme. In the early 80s he organised the first major exhibition of Western Desert art (outside the western desert region) at Syd's Gallery, Sydney, featuring the work of visiting artists, Nosepeg Tjupurrula, Mick Namarrari, and Tutama Tjapangarti. His film documentaries - Desert Stories (writer/narrator), Nosepeg’s Movie (producer/writer), and Pride & Prejudice - as well as other work, draw heavily on the time he spent in the desert. In 1991, he organised and participated in the historic American Walkabout Tour, which included Pintupi and Walpiri elders, Paddy Carroll Tjungurrayi and Dinny Nolan Tjampitjinpa. The nine-week tour featured standing-room-only concerts in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, San Diego (California), Santa Fe (New Mexico) and at Rough Rock Indian settlement and First and Second Mesa in Hopi Country (Arizona). Billy is conversant in several Aboriginal dialects.

Stoneking's most recent play, Eisenstein in Mexico, is the product of several years of intensive research, during which time he spent more than a year in Mexico, writing, researching and giving public readings from his work in places as diverse as San Luis Potosi, Los Mochis, Mazatlan, and San Miguel de Allende.

At present he works as a freelance writer/script editor/producer. He also is a reader/assessor for Script Central.

  
CURRICULUM VITAE

BILLY MARSHALL STONEKING has written for film, television, radio & theatre. He is the author of seven books, including the Australian classic, Singing the Snake and during his seven years at AFTRS, he originated and taught the legendary Drama of Screenwriting course. His production credits include the drama series, Stringer, the stage play, Sixteen Words for Water, and he was series writer on Mission: Impossible. He has script edited many award-winning films & television series including Chopper, Crocodile Dreaming, The Magician & Maya Newell’s Richard: The most interestingest person I have ever met.

Produced & published work

Producer/script editor - Trust. A 12-minute drama, written and directed by Zdenka Simandlova. 2009

Producer/script editor - Defect. A 15-minute drama, written and directed
by Zdenka Simandlova. 2009.

Producer/script editor - Detour. A 15-minute drama, written and directed
by Zdenka Simandlova. 2009. 

Executive producer/co-producer - Jelly's Placenta. A 30-minute drama,
written and directed by Christina Conrad. Starring Craig Boreham. 2007.

Writer - Sixteen Words for Water. Full-length stage play about the poet,
Ezra Pound.
__________________________________________ 

Stage Production details - Sixteen Words for Water:

Victoria (Melbourne, Australia) : La Mama (Carlton Courthouse Theatre),
March, 2005. Starring Tim Robertson. Directed by Lawrence Strangio.
Design by Peter Corrigan.

Washington (USA) : Harlequin Productions. January-February, 2001.
Directed by Scot Whitney.

North Carolina (USA) : Burning Coal Theatre Company. A rehearsed
reading of the play, December, 2000. Directed by Brad Shelton.

Massachusetts (USA): The Miniature Theatre of Chester, Massachusetts. 
July, 2000. Directed by Byam Stevens.

New York: Alleyway Theatre Company, Buffalo, NY. March-April, 2000.
Directed by Neal Radice.

Dublin Ireland. Celtic Mouse Theatre Company, Crypt Theatre Arts
Centre. March-April, 1999. Directed by James Watson.

New South Wales: Chalkdust Theatre Company, Q Theatre, Penrith,
NSW. October, 1996.

Victoria: Melbourne University student production. Guild Theatre,
University of Melbourne. November, 1994. Directed by Michael Cathcart.

Western Australia: Theatre West, in association with Black Swan
Theatre Company. July/August, 1994. Starring Arthur Dignam. Directed
by Leith Taylor.

New Zealand: The Fortune Theatre, Dunedin, South Island. September/
October, 1993. Directed by Campbell Thomas.

Tasmania: The Peacock Theatre, Salamanca Place, Hobart. March, 1992.
Starring Richard Davey. Directed by Robert Jarman.

British premiere: The Old Red Lion Theatre, Islington, London.
September, 1991. Starring Tom Georgeson. Directed by Madeleine Wynn.

Sixteen Words for Water (World premiere): Sydney Theatre Company,
The Wharf Theatre. August/September, 1991. Starring Simon Chilvers,
Rosemary Harris, and Miranda Otto. Directed by Rhys McConnochie.
_________________________________________________

Writer - Sixteen Words For Water (Radio adaptation). ABC Radio
National (FM), Starring Simon Chilvers, Pamela Rabe and Rachel
Szalay. Produced by Mike Ladd. Directed by Chris Williams.
Broadcast February, 1996.

Writer - Baby. A half-hour radio play. ABC Radio National ["The
Box Seat"]. Starring David Field and Rebecca Frith. Produced &
directed by Chris Williams. August, 1995.

Writer - Kate Cerebrano & Wendy Matthews Live at the Koko Club:
You've Always Got The Blues.  - ABC-TV music special. Directed by
Lindsay Frazer. 1994.

Writer - The Dreaming Place.  A play. Produced by Toe Truck
Theatre Company. Belvoir Street Theatre, September/October, 1993.

Author - Taking America Out Of The Boy.  Best-selling autobiography.
Published by Hodder and Stoughton, 1993.

Writer/Post-production director - Call It Poetry.  A 50-minute
documentary about the making of the stage play, CALL IT POETRY/TONIGHT.   ABC-TV. July, 1993. Asian television: 1994.

Writer/performer - In Occupied Territory. A verse play. Produced by
REM Theatre Company at the Sydney Opera House, and at Bombala, NSW, in association with the Bennelong Programme. Directed by Roger Rynd. September, 1992.

Writer/presenter - Lone Ant From A Broken Anthill. A 20-minute radio
documentary about the poet, Ezra Pound. ABC Radio National - "Fictions". Produced by Ron Blair. July, 1992. [Note: The full text of this program was published as a feature article in the ABC's Radio magazine, 24 Hours - February, 1996.]

Co-producer/director/performer - Out Loud!  Two nights of live readings
by Australia?s best performance poets. Recorded "live" at the NSW Writers' Centre, and broadcast by ABC Radio National, March, 1992.

Author - Sixteen Words For Water. Playscript. Published by Harper/
Collins (Angus & Robertson), August, 1991.
 
Writer/presenter - The Power of the Song. A 20-minute radio programme featuring poems from SINGING THE SNAKE. ABC Radio National, "Fictions".  Produced by Ron Blair. August, 1991.

Co-writer/producer/director/performer - Call It Poetry/Tonight. An
experimental, verse play.  Sydney Theatre Company, Studio Theatre,
February-March, 1991.

Author - Singing The Snake : Poems from the Western Desert, 1979-1988.  Published by Angus & Robertson. March, 1990. 2nd edition issued May, 1990.

Writer - Fire in the Heart. Twelve, half-hour episodes of a fourteen-
part drama series. Singapore television in association with the National
Productivity Board. Produced by Nene Morgan. Aired October-December, 1990.

Director/performer - Off the Page / On the Stage. An evening of poetry,
jazz & comedy. Stables Theatre. December, 1989.

Author - Lasseter : In Quest of Gold. Up-dated, enlarged edition of
the 1985 best-selling hardback edition of  Lasseter : The Making of
a Legend  (Allen & Unwin). Published by Hodder & Stoughton. November, 989.

Series Writer - Mission: Impossible.  Paramount Television (USA).
Producer: Michael Fisher. 1988-89.

Writer/producer - Nosepeg's Movie. A film biography of the Central
Australian Aboriginal elder, Tjungkarta "Nosepeg" Tjupurrula. Directed
by Lindsay Frazer. 50 mins. Premiere screening on ABC-TV, June, 1989.

Author - The Speed of Darkness. A novel. Published by Greenhouse
Press. May, 1989.

Writer - An American Jelly. A one-hour radio special, Radio Helicon.
ABC Radio National. Produced by Amanda Stewart in cooperation with
William Stoneking, 1988.

Major writer/contributor - Unsung Heroes and Heroines of Australia.
Edited by Suzy Baldwin. Published by Greenhouse Press in association
with the Australian Bicentennial Authority, Sydney. 1988.

Creator/co-writer - Stringer. Award-winning ABC-TV drama series.
Directed by Ken Cameron, Chris Thomson and Kathy Mueller. Produced
by John Edwards. 1988.

Author - Stringer. A novel. Published by ABC Books. 1988.

Writer - Pride & Prejudice. Documentary about Aboriginal culture
(tribal and urban). Episode 3 of  Images of Australia. 50 mins.
Produced and Directed by Chris McCullough. ABC-TV. 1988.

Writer  - The Power and the Glory : A history of gold mining. A film
documentary.  Narrated by Bill Peach. 50 mins. Produced by Broadcom.
1987.

Writer - Project Earth. Educational film (docu-drama) about the
world of computers. Powerhouse Museum Theatrette. 10 mins. 1986.

Writer  - No Is Okay. A docu-drama about sexual harassment in the
workplace. Produced by Film Australia for the Federal Attorney?s-
General Department, Canberra. 28 mins. 1986.

Writer - The Rite. A one-act play. Produced by the National Institute
of Dramatic Art as part of their "New Works - '85". Directed by Stephanie Rigold. November, 1985.

Author - Lasseter : The Making of a Legend. Non-fiction chronicle
of the 1930 Lasseter expedition. Published in hardback by George
Allen & Unwin, Sydney. 1985.

Writer - Looking for Lasseter. Radio doco/drama. Directed by Barry
Oakley for ABC Radio Helicon. 1985.

Writer - U.H.F.  Television information film. Directed by Nick Frazer
for Special Broadcasting Service. 1985.

Writer - Fighting for a Century. Doco/drama about the history of
the New South Wales Fire Brigade. Directed by Tony Bowman. Produced by DeMontigne Productions for the New South Wales Fire Brigade. 1984.

Writer/narrator - Desert Stories. A documentary about bi-lingualism
and Aboriginal storytelling. SBS-TV. 1984.

Writer - Nighthawks. Drama. 35mm 8mins. Directed by John Power.
Produced by the Australian Film & Television School. 1983.

Writer - Bunyip. (w/ Steve Wright) 8 mins. Produced by the Australian
Film and Television School. 1983.

Editor - The Stories of Obed Raggett.  Stories by an Aboriginal elder.
Alternative Publishing Cooperative, Sydney, 1980.

Editor - Touch the Man (selected poems) by Ivan McConchie. Kembali
Books. First published in 1976. Re-printed in 1976.

Editor - Kembali anthologies: "Mantra", "Songs of Maya", "...inside the
moment", "Threads of the Pattern". (1974-1978)



Other publications

Poems, stories, articles, criticism & other writing have appeared in

Newspapers:

THE AGE, THE CANBERRA TIMES, THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN, SYDNEY TELEGRAPH, THE MELBOURNE HERALD, ADELAIDE OBSERVER, THE WEST AUSTRALIAN, DARWIN NEWS, CENTRALIAN ADVOCATE (Alice Springs), KATHERINE COURIER (N.T., Australia), KINGSTON FREEMAN (NY, USA), LOS ANGELES TIMES (Sunday edition), SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, SANTA CLARA METRO (USA), SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL (USA), VIRGIN PRESS, MAGGIES FARM,
WASP, HONI SOIT.

Australian magazines/journals:

ANCESTOR, ASH, ASPECT, AUSTRALIAN STYLE, AUSTRALIAN WAY, AUSTRALASIAN BOOK REVIEW, AUSTRALASIAN SMALL PRESS REVIEW, BRAVE NEW WORD, BULLETIN,
BYSTANDER, CHOOK CHOOK, COMPASS, ELLIMATA, FALLEN ANGELS, FREMANTLE ARTS REVIEW, ISLAND, KEMBALI, THE LAST POETS? CHOICE, LINQ, LIVE POETS? SOCIETY (LITMUS SUITE), LONG WATER (Vols. 1 & 2), LUNA, MAKAR, MATTOID,
MEANJIN, MEDIA INFORMATION AUSTRALIA, MERRI CREEK JOURNAL, NEW POETRY, NORTHERN PERSPECTIVE, OFF THE PAGE (Vols. 1, 2, 3, & 4), THE OPEN DOOR, OVERLAND, PHOENIX REVIEW, POEMS IN PUBLIC PLACES, POETRY AUSTRALIA, 
POST-MODERN WRITING, RAPPORT, REAL POETRY, SALT, SCOPP, SEE PAGE 207, THE SMALL TIMES, SOUTHERLY, SOUTHERN REVIEW, 24 HOURS, WESTERLY, X-PRESS, YOUR FRIENDLY FASCIST.

Overseas magazines/journals:

ANTIGONISH REVIEW (Nova Scotia), ANTIPODES (USA), CAESURA (San Jose Centre for Poetry & Literature, USA), CROSSCURRENTS (USA), FRESH! (USA), MELANGE (USA), LA JORNADA (Mexico), LUCID MOON (USA), PRISM INTERNATIONAL (University of British Columbia, Canada), THE READER (University of Liverpool, UK),
SAN MIGUEL READER (Mexico), SNOW APPLE (USA), STAND (U.K.), TULE REVIEW (USA).

Books/anthologies/textbooks:

A FIELD GUIDE TO ULURU/KATA TJURTA (Australian National Parks Service); A TIME TO CHOOSE; ABOUT LITERATURE (Macmillan textbook), BORDER TERRITORY (Unorthodox Australian Writing), THE EARTH AND THE BODY (Random House, USA); INSTRUCTIONS FOR HONEY ANTS (1983 Mattara Prize anthology), MEDUNG JACK KUNTIKUNTI (Bi-lingual anthology of Australian verse - English/Bahasa
Indonesian); MYTHSCAPES; NORTH OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS; OFF THE RECORD (Penguin anthology), OXFORD BOOK OF MODERN AUSTRALIAN VERSE (ed. by Les Murray); OXFORD COMPANION AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE; PAPUNYA/TULA PAINTINGS; THE  PENGUIN BOOK OF CONTEMPORARY AUSTRALIAN POETRY (ed. By John Tranter); RATTLING IN THE WIND; A READER?S GUIDE TO AUSTRALIAN POETRY (ed. by Geoff
Page), REVISIONS (Longman Cheshire); THE TEMPERAMENT OF GENERATIONS (Fifty years of Writing in Meanjin); TOP LINES (From Australian Contemporary Poets), ANTHOLOGY OF WORLD LITERATURE (Viking Press).

Others (including ezines):

ALLENDE (Mexican e-zine), ALICUBI JOURNAL (NYC ezine), THE ALSOP REVIEW (USA ezine), BARBARIAN POETS REVIEW, BLACK ORCHID (USA), CALL IT POETRY (50-minute television documentary); CHOICES : the 1999 PoetFest Anthology (USA), DeHAVILLAND's POETRY PAGE (Australia); EMPYRIOS.ORG (USA): THE
FAE WHIRL (Netherlands); GANGWAY #13 (Austrian ezine), KOOKAMONGA SQUARE (USA ezine), MINDFIRE (USA); OZ MUSE (Poets? Union newsletter); POETRYMAGAZINE.COM (NY), SHELTON LEA?S RADICAL POETS (45-minute video); NIGHTCLUB POETRY MAG PAD (Spoleto Fringe publication); SINGING THE SNAKE
(Audio tape, "Off The Page Poets", No. 1); THREE CANDLES (USA); STREET POETRY (Melbourne, Australia); A WRITER'S CHOICE LITERARY JOURNAL.

Broadcasts

My work has been broadcast and/or discussed on radio, including the
BBC?s World Service; ABC Radio National ("Fictions", "The Listening
Room", "Radio Helicon", "Live Wire", "Late Night Live" with Phillip
Adams, "The Ramona Kovel Show", "The Box Seat - Biography"); ABC
Regionals (Queensland); 2BL (Sydney); 2JJJ (Sydney); Radio Skidrow
(Sydney); 2RRR (Sydney); 2UE (Sydney); 2GB (Sydney); 2SER-FM (Sydney); 3LO (Melbourne); 3CR (Melbourne); 5AN (Adelaide); 5UE (Adelaide); 7NT (Launceston); 4QR (Brisbane); 2CN (Canberra); 8AL (Alice Springs); 8CCC (Alice Springs); 8DDD (Darwin);  West Coast Weekend  (KQED, San Francisco);  and  The Poets' Hour  (KUSP  (Santa Cruz, California), Sunday Roundtable (WDST, Woodstock, NY).


Television broadcasts include:

Sunday Afternoon Arts (ABC-TV with Peter Ross); Review (ABC-TV with
Mark McLeod); The Midday Show (Channel Nine, with Ray Martin);
Imagine (SBS-TV, with Paul McGillick); Talking Heads (SBS-TV),
with Helen Vastakopolis); The Book Show  (SBS-TV, with Denny
Ahern); and Tasmania Today.

My documentaries and television scripts have been broadcast in the
United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Spain, Germany,
the Netherlands, and throughout Southeast Asia.



Performances

I have read and performed my poetry/writing  (and the poetry/writing
of others) at a variety of venues/festivals/etc around Australia,
including The Melbourne Festival (1987, 89); The Adelaide Arts
Festival (1978, 1990); The Sydney Festival (1979, 80, 81, 83);
Carnivale (1991); Montsalvat Poetry Festival (1994); Hawthorn Town Hall
readings (1994); Melbourne Writers' Fair (1994); The Country Writers?
Festival, Shepparton, Victoria (1994); Australian National Word Fest,
Canberra (1993); Darwin Poetry Festival (1991); Launceston Poetry
Festival (1988). Other Australian venues include the Lower Melbourne
Town Hall; Outpost Inn (Melbourne); Little Reata's (Melbourne); 
University of Melbourne; Melbourne Teachers; College; Latrobe
University (Melbourne); Provincial Hotel (Melbourne); Punters Hotel
(Melbourne); Crosscurrents (Ballarat, Victoria); Warrnambool Institute
of Advanced Education; Warrnambool City Art Gallery (Victoria);
University of New South Wales; National Institute of Dramatic Art
(NIDA); Macquarie University  (Sydney);  Charles Sturt University
(Bathurst and Wagga Wagga campuses); Wagga Wagga Writers Writers; The Australian Film, Television and Radio School (Sydney); The Shore School (Sydney); MacDonald College (Sydney); NSW Writers? Centre (Sydney); National Gallery of NSW; State Library of NSW; The Wharf Theatre (Sydney); Studio Theatre, The Wharf (Sydney); The Sydney Opera House; Stables Theatre (Sydney); Belvoir Street Theatre (Sydney); Performance Space (Sydney); The Resistance Centre (Sydney); Harold Park Hotel (Sydney); Evening Star Hotel (Sydney); Avalon café (Katoomba, NSW); Poets in the Pub, Grand Hotel (Newcastle, NSW); Astor Hotel (Newcastle, NSW); University of Wollongong; Brisbane Arts' Centre; Burgmann College (Canberra); Australian Defence Force Academy (Canberra); Popeye (Adelaide); Mississippi Queen (Darwin); Araluen Arts' Centre (Alice Springs); Northern Territory University (Darwin); Hotel (Hobart) , and other venues too numerous to mention.


Overseas venues include:

Shakespeare & Co. (Paris), The Poetry Centre (London), Torriano
Community Center (Kentish Town, London), Literaturhaus (Salzburg,
Austria), Kunstverien Alte Schemide (Vienna, Austria), Fallon House
Theatre (Columbia, California); Columbia College (Sonora, California);
San Jose Poetry Centre (California); Los Arboles School (San Jose);
DeAnza College (San Jose); University of California, Santa Cruz
(California); Cabrillo College (Santa Cruz, California); Fort Mason
Centre (San Francisco, California), Earth Space Theatre (San Francisco, California); University of California at San Diego (California); Centre for Contemporary Arts and Crafts (Santa Fe, New Mexico); College of Santa Fe;  Kleinert/James Arts Centre (Woodstock, NY); Stone Ridge Healing Arts Center (Stone Ridge, NY); Alternative Bookshop (Kingston, NY); Deep Listening Space (Kingston, NY); Anna Jarvis School (West Virginia,USA); Bellas Artes (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico), University of Sinaloa (Mazatlan, Culican, Los Mochis, Mexico), Centre del Arte (San Luis Potosi, Mexico).


Education

Bachelor of Arts (hons)  California State University at Sacramento,
California. Major: English. Minors: philosophy & education. Conferred
June, 1970

Diploma of education (Secondary teaching certificate), California State
University at Sacramento, California. Conferred June, 1971

Certificate of screenwriting. Australian Film & Television School.
Conferred March, 1984.


Languages

I speak Pintupi/Luritja, an Aboriginal dialect of the Western Desert
group of languages. I am also conversational in Bahasa Indonesian.


Employment

2008 to present - Screenwriting mentor, International Film School, Sydney, Rosebery, NSW, Australia.

2003 - present - Script assessor, Script Central

2001 to 2008 - Lecturer, Screenwriting. Australian FIlm, Television and
Radio School, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

2001 - 2005 - Script assessor / consultant, NSW Film and Television Office, Sydney, Australia

1983 - present:  Screenwriter; producer/director; poet/playwright;
script editor/consultant. Also a regular reviewer for The Weekend
Australian literary pages.

1979 - 1982: Literature production supervisor/teacher, Papunya Aboriginal School, Papunya Settlement, N.T. Responsibilities included collection of stories, histories, poems, etc. in the local dialect (Pintupi/Luritja) for  publication and use in outstations' bi-lingual programme. Teaching post-primary boys' class.

1978: Free-lance writer, Sydney.

1977: Workshop manager, Yalundah Day Training Centre. Working with group of intellectually-handicapped adults.

1975: Two months as exchange teacher, teaching English (second language) at Sekolah Economik, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia. Organised by the Australian Teachers' Federation, Canberra.

1972 - 1976 (inclusive): High school teacher in Victoria and the Northern
Territory. Teaching English, literature, drama, filmmaking and cultural
studies.



Residencies, Fellowships, Grants

1995: Writing attachment. National Playwrights' Centre, Sydney   
         
1994: Literature Board grant. Australia Council. Category "A"          
        Fellowship.  Writing for performance.

1993: Literature Board grant. Australia Council. Category  "B" 
        Fellowship. Auto-biographical writing / Writing for
        performance.

1992: Writer-in-residence. Zootango Theatre Company and the
        Tasmanian Writers' Union. Hobart, Tasmania. February- 
        March, 1992.

1991: Writer-in-residence. Charles Sturt University.  

        Departments of  English & Performing Arts. Wagga
        Wagga/Bathurst, NSW. October-November, 1991.

        Poet-in-residence. Darwin Poetry Festival. April, 1991. 
                                                                                        
1990: Writer-in-residence. University of New South Wales.
        Department of English. August-October, 1990.

1985: Writer-in-residence. Fort Street High School, Sydney.
        July-September, 1985.


NOTE: Between 1982 and 1990, I received several grants from the Australian Film Commission to develop story-lines/treatments and scripts for various film and television projects. (See "produced work" and "work-in-progress")



Script Editing & Consultancy and Related Miscellaneous Activities


2009 - present

Script Editor/consultant - George. An animated television series, written and directed by Alex Holmes. Helen Panckhurst producing.

Script editor - Meiwha. A 3-D animation feature, written by Sejong Park

Script editor - Aquarium. A short drama (12 minutes) Directed by
Motoko Shimizu


2002-2008

Script editor - The Five Marys. A feature film by Karen Quah.

Script editor/ consultant - Amir and the Ball. Written & directed by Alex Holmes. Best Short Drama, 2008 Dendy Awards

Script editor/consultant - Richard: the most interestingest person I've ever met. A 50-minute documentary film by Maya Newell. Premiere, Directors' Fortnight, Cannes 2007

Script advisor / consultant - The Magician. A television (SBS) drama series by Scott Ryan

Script consultancy - East of Everything. ABC-TV Television drama series by Deb Cox and Roger Monk.

Script editor - Jelly's Placenta. Written & directed by Christina Conrad.

Script editor / consultant - Crocodile Dreaming (working title). A short drama by Darlene Johnson.

Script editor - The Saviour. Written & directed by Peter Templeman.
Oscar nominee (Best Short Drama); winner, Slamdance, 2007

Script editor - Splintered. Written & directed by Peter Templeman.
Winner, Slamdance 2006.

Script editor - The Girls. A short feature film by Lis Collins.
Director: Clayton Jacobsen

Script editor - The Whistler. A feature film by Greg Woodland.
Producer, Tony Buckley


2001

Script editor - this is BLOCK. A feature screenplay
by Amiel Courtin-Wilson.

Awards and Prizes

1990:   Highly commended. Jesse Litchfield Prize.  Northern Territory University.

1988:     Winner. Bill Harney Bicentennial Poetry Prize. Northern Territory Literary  Awards.

1983:     Highly commended. Mattara Poetry Prize. University of Newcastle.