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Andrew Bovell Andrew Bovell i(A5871 works by) (a.k.a. Andrew John Bovell)
Born: Established: 1962 Kalgoorlie, Goldfields area, Southeast Western Australia, Western Australia, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Dramatist, writer, screenwriter, critic.

The winner of numerous awards during his career, Andrew Bovell has utilised a variety of styles and contexts, as well as performance venues, since he began writing professionally in the late 1980s. His works also largely concerned with social and political issues. He has written extensively for film, radio and television, and worked as a critic.

After completing his secondary schooling at Scotch College, Perth, Bovell graduated with a BA from the University of Western Australia and then completed a Diploma in Dramatic Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts. Bovell was the recipient of a Literature Board Fellowship in 1985, and two years later began his long association with the Melbourne Workers Theatre as writer-in-residence. His play State of Defence was staged by the company. Arguably Bovell's best-known play from his early career is After Dinner, which premiered at La Mama (Melbourne) in 1988. By the end of 1991 After Dinner had been produced at least twelve times both in Australia and New Zealand. Another play The Ballad of Lois Ryan also premiered in 1988 under the auspices of the Melbourne Workers Theatre. This play perhaps presents Bovell's clearest socio-political theme - the exploration of the public and private in the lives of trade union activists. He has since turned both The Ballad of Lois Ryan and After Dinner into novels. Another play from this period is Ship of Fools (1988).

In 1989 Bovell became writer-in-residence for the Melbourne Theatre Company. The company staged his adaptation of Gulliver's Travels in association with Handspan Theatre in 1992. He also later undertook the same position with the Darwin Theatre Company (1991), and at the Edith Cowan University in Perth (1994). In 1997 Bovell collaborated with several writers on a music theatre piece devised by Diedre Rubenstein. Confidentially Yours, co-written with Janis Balodis, Nick Enright, Michael Gurr, Daniel Keene, Joanna Murray-Smith, Debra Oswald, Alan John (music) and Alison Croggon (lyrics), was staged the following year by Playbox. He contributed the pieces 'Jane' and 'Paula.'

Among Andrew Bovell's many career achievements are his co-authored screenplays for the Baz Luhrmann film Strictly Ballroom, and Head On (an adaptation of Christos Tsiolakas' 1995 novel dealing with modern urban life from the perspective of a young, gay, Greek man). He also wrote the television screenplay for Piccolo Mondo and episodes for the series Naked and The Seven Deadly Sins). His play Speaking in Tongues saw him awarded a 1997 AWGIE, and was later adapted into a screenplay as Lantana. The film scooped the 20001 AFI awards and Bovell was named 2001 Harpers Bazaar AFI Scriptwriter of the Year. His radio adaptation of Distant Lights from Dark Places won the Gold Medal for drama at the New York Radio and Television Festival in 1996 and a 1997 AWGIE award for best radio adaptation. He also become joint winner of the 1998 Green Room Award for best new play for Who's Afraid of the Working Class. Co-written with Patricia Cornelius, Christos Tsiolkas, Irene Vela and Melissa Reeves, the play shared the Gold AWGIE award in 1999 with Nick Enright's adaptation of Tim Wintoni8)'s Cloudstreet .

Bovell's other screen credits include: The Book of Revelation (2006), Blessed (2009), an adaptation of Whose Afraid of the Working Class?, Edge of Darkness (2010) starring Mel Gibson and the 2014 thriller A Most Wanted Man (starring Philip Seymour Hoffman).

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2017 recipient The Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund

$3,200 awarded for an Artist in Residency program in Madrid to develop a new performance work with Spanish theatre director, Julian Fuentes Reta. 

2016 recipient Patrick White Playwrights' Fellowship
2015 winner Don Dunstan Award

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Things I Know To Be True 2016 Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2017 11482666 2016 single work drama

'The Price family appear to be living the Australian dream—a loving household in a solid brick house on a quarter acre block where the passing of time is measured by the seasonal changes in working class patriarch Bob’s beloved roses. The four kids have grown up and spread their wings, with only the youngest, Rosie, still at home. As the seasons turn, their story becomes darker and more difficult. But, with complexity comes richness, resolution and meaning.' (AusStage)

2017 shortlisted Helpmann Awards for Performing Arts in Australia Best Play
2017 nominated AWGIE Awards Stage Award
form y separately published work icon A Most Wanted Man ( dir. Anton Corbijn ) Germany United Kingdom (UK) : Amusement Park Films Demarest Films Film4 Senator Film Produktion Potboiler Productions Ink Factory , 2013 6354088 2013 single work film/TV thriller

'A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg, where he gets caught up in the international war on terror.'

2013 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards Film Script Award
y separately published work icon The Secret River 2013 Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2013 Z1887820 2013 single work drama (taught in 2 units)

'Convict William Thornhill, exiled from the stinking slums of early 19th century London, discovers that the penal colony offers something that he never dared to hope for before: a place of his own. A stretch of land on the Hawkesbury River is Thornhill’s for the taking.

'As he and his family seek to establish themselves in this unfamiliar territory, they find that they are not the only ones to lay a claim to the land. The Hawkesbury is already home to a family of Dharug people, who are reluctant to leave on account of these intruders.

'As Thornhill’s attachment to the place and the dream deepens, he is driven to make a terrible decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life.' (Source: Currency Press website)

2014 winner AWGIE Awards Stage Award
2014 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Scripts
2014 joint winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Multicultural NSW Award With Michelle de Kretser's Questions of Travel.
2014 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting
2013 winner Sydney Theatre Awards Best New Australian Work
2013 nominated Sydney Theatre Awards Best Mainstage Production
2013 winner Helpmann Awards for Performing Arts in Australia Best Play
2013 winner Helpmann Awards for Performing Arts in Australia Best New Australian Work
2015 winner AWGIE Awards Television Award Mini-series - Adaptation
2014 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for Drama
Last amended 12 Apr 2018 08:08:05
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