Louis Nowra

Louis Nowra (born 12 December 1950) is one of Australia's most acclaimed and prolific writers, playwrights, screenwriters and librettists.

Nowra is famous for such plays as "Così", "Byzantine Flowers", "Summer of the Aliens", "Radiance", and "The Golden Age". In 2007 he completed the "The Boyce Trilogy" for Griffin Theatre Company, consisting of The Woman with Dog's Eyes, "The Marvellous Boy" and "The Emperor of Sydney" (Currency, Australia, 2007). Many of his plays have been filmed.cite web |title= Filmography = Louis Nowra |publisher= ImDb |url= http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637491/ |accessdate= 2008-06-25]

He was born as Mark Doyle in Melbourne, Australia. He changed his name to Louis Nowra in the early 1970s. He studied at Melbourne's La Trobe University without earning a degree. In his memoir, "The Twelfth of Never", Nowra claimed that he left the course due to a conflict with his professor on Patrick White's "The Tree of Man". He worked in several jobs and lived an itinerant lifestyle until the mid-1970s when his plays began to attract attention.

His radio plays include "Albert Names Edward", "The Song Room", "The Widows" and the five part "The Divine Hammer" aired on the ABC in 2003.cite web |last= Ulman |first= Jane |title= The Divine Hammer: Episode 5: The Bar of Crocodiles |publisher= ABC Radio National |url= http://www.abc.net.au/rn/airplay/stories/2003/741148.htm |accessdate= 2008-06-30]

In March 2007, Nowra published a controversial book on violence in Aboriginal communities, "Bad Dreaming".

Nowra has been studied extensively in Veronica Kelly's work "The Theatre of Louis Nowra".

He currently resides in Sydney, Australia with his wife, author Mandy Sayer.

Awards

* 1990 - Prix Italia award, for the radio play "Summer of the Aliens"
* 1992 - Winner of the NSW Premier's Literary Prize for the play "Cosi"
* 1994 - Winner of Victoria Premier's, Louis Esson Prize for Drama for "The Temple"
* 1994 - Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for "Radiance" and "The Temple"
* 1994 - The Australia/Canada Award
* 1995 - Green Room Award for Best New Play
* 1996 - Honorary Doctorate - Griffith University, 1996cite web |title= Guide to the Papers of Louis Nowra, MS 10042 |publisher= National Library of Australia |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms10042 |accessdate= 2008-06-30]
* 1996 - Australian Film Institute Award - Best Adapted Screenplay for "Cosi"cite web |title= Awards for "Cosi" (1996) |publisher= IMDb |url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115951/awards |accessdate= 2008-06-30]
* 1999 - Nominated for Green Room Award Best New Australian Play for "Language of the Gods"
* 2000 - Nominated for New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for "The Twelfth of Never"
* 2000 - Courier-Mail Book of The Year for "The Twelfth of Never"

Works

Plays

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*"Kiss The One-Eyed Priest" (1973)
*"Inner Voices" (Currency Press, 1974)
*"Death Of Joe Orton" (1974)
*"The Lady Of The Camellias" (1979)
*"Visions" (Currency Press, 1979)
*"Beauty And The Beast" (1980)
*"Cyrano De Bergerac" (1980)
*"Inside The Island" (Currency Press, 1981)
*"The Precious Woman" (Currency Press, 1981)
*"Lulu" (1981)
*"The Prince Of Homburg" (1982)
*"Radiance"
*"Royal Show" (1982)
*"Spellbound" (1982)
*"Sunrise" (Currency Press, 1983)
*"Albert Names Edward" (Currency Press, 1983)
*"The Golden Age" (Currency Press, 1985)

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*"Beatrice"
*"The Song Room" (Editions Rodopi, 1987)
*"Capricornia" (Currency Press, 1988)
*"Byzantine Flowers" (1989)
*"Summer Of The Aliens" (Currency Press, 1992)
*"Cosi" (Currency Press, 1992)
*"Crow"
*"Incorruptible" (Currency Press, 1995)
*"Jungle" (1995)
*"Language of the Gods" (Currency Press, 1999)
*"Miss Bosnia"
*"The Temple"
*"Watchtower"
*"Devil Is A Woman" (2004)
*"Page 8" (2006)

Non-fiction writing

*"The Cheated" (Angus & Robertson, Australia, 1979)
*"Warne's World" (Duffy & Snellgrove, Australia, 2002)
*"Bad Dreaming" (Pluto Press, Australia 2007)

Novels

*"The Misery of Beauty" (Angus & Robertson, Australia, 1976)
*"Palu" (Picador, Australia, 1987)
*"Red Nights" (Picador, Australia, 1997)
*"Abaza" (Picador, Australia, 2001)

Memoirs

*"The Twelfth of Never" (Picador, Australia, 1999)
*"Shooting the Moon" (Picador, Australia, 2004)

creen writing

*"Displaced Persons" (1984)
*"Hunger" (1986)
*"The Last Resort" (TV Series. 1988)
*"Map of the Human Heart" (1992)
*"Heaven's Burning" (1997)
*"Radiance" (associate producer/writer, 1998)
*Twisted Tales "Directly From My Heart to You" (1996)
*"The Matchmaker" (screen play, 1997)
*"Cosi" (screen play, 1997)
*"" (2002)
*"Black and White" (2002)
*"Rain of the Children" (additional dialogue, 2008)

Libretti

*"Inner Voices" Victorian State Opera, 1978
* "Whitsunday" Opera Australia, 1988
* "Love Burns" Seymour Group, 1992 Adelaide Festival of Arts
* "On the Beach" Victorian Arts Centre Rio Tinto Grant 2000

Notes

References

*cite web|title= Plays by Louis Nowra |publisher= The Playwrights Database |url= http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsN/nowra-louis.html |accessdate= 2008-06-25
*cite web |title= Filmography - Louis Nowra |publisher= ImDb |url= http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0637491/ |accessdate= 2008-06-25
*cite book|last= Kelly |first= Veronica |title= Louis Nowra (Australian Playwrights Monograph Series) |publisher= Editions Rodopi |date= January 1987 |isbn= 9062038697
*cite web |title= Guide to the Papers of Louis Nowra, MS 10042 |publisher= National Library of Australia |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms10042 |accessdate= 2008-06-30
*cite web |last= Ulman |first= Jane |title= The Divine Hammer: Episode 5: The Bar of Crocodiles |publisher= ABC Radio National |url= http://www.abc.net.au/rn/airplay/stories/2003/741148.htm |accessdate= 2008-06-30