Mark O'Flynn (274 works by) (a.k.a. Mark Oliver O'Flynn )
Also writes as: Omar ' 'O'Mally
Born: Established: 17 Sep 1958 Melbourne ;
Gender: Male
Lives in Leura (Sidewalk 2, 1999) - & Westerly v.47 & 48 says the Blue Mountains. DM 021203 Leura is mentioned in Gathering Force, No. 7, 1996. BC 24/08/04

BiographyHistory

Mark O'Flynn graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1979 from Swinburne Institute and later completed a script-writing course at the Victorian College of the Arts. O'Flynn has written 'Jokers at Work' and 'The Surfing Show' for the Mill Theatre and 'Waiters' and 'War 'n' Pieces' for the Victorian Arts Council. As well as plays, he has produced fiction, poetry and radio programmes. In 2001 he was a founding member of Weatherboard Theatre Company and received funding from the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts to write 'Eleanor and Eve' (a play about Eve Langley and Eleanor Dark qq.v.), performed by the Railway Street Theatre Company and the Weatherboard Theatre Company at the Q Theatre, Penrith in 2003. In 2007 he was recipient of a writing residency in Ireland funded by the Australia Council. O'Flynn lives in the Blue Mountains (2006).

Awards

2011 shortlisted The Newcastle Poetry Prize for 'History and Philosophy'
2010 Shortlisted The Newcastle Poetry Prize for ‘Untested Cures for Modern Day Ailments’
2008 Patricia Hackett Prize
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Awards for Works

False Start : A Memoir of Things Best Forgotten , 2013 autobiography single work 'In the early 1980s, recently graduated arts student Mark O'Flynn is told in no uncertain terms by his father to stop fruit picking and get a proper job! In an effort to kickstart his son's career in the workplace he arranges for Mark to work in a quarry in outback Australia. Dropped in the middle of central Queensland, and somewhat underwhelmed by the 40 degree heat, barrage of flies, never ending parade of snakes and a steady diet of meat and beer, Mark encounters a group of men the likes of whom he has never seen before in his city life. Men the colour of boiled mutton, who work only as hard as they need to, play as hard as they can, adhered strictly to the rules of the union and call each other 'Brother'. Soon Mark realises that the men are under the impression that he is a 'science expert' and decides the best ...and only ...thing to do is go with the flow. So begins Mark's adventures in being an 'accidental expert', a situation he finds himself in on a recurring basis, whether it is as a rock specialist, a writer and actor thrust prematurely upon the stage or a special agent charged with the safe transport of a life-size statue of the Virgin Mary to Ireland. These hilarious and droll accounts of three jobs that went 'horribly wrong' continue the rich tradition of the great Australian yarn - and will appeal to readers who appreciate the unexpected and the bizarre wrapped in a laconic sense of humour.' (Publisher's blurb)
2012 finalist Finch Memoir Prize
What Can Be Proven , 2007 poetry selected work
2007 winner IP Picks Award Best Poetry
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