Bryce Courtney: Storyteller

BRYCE COURTENAY: STORYTELLER
By CHRISTINE COURTENAY

 
Viking | RRP $39.99 | Hardback, e-book & audiobook  

 
'In the end, if someone says, "Here lies Bryce Courtenay, a storyteller", my life will have been worthwhile.'

 
It has been widely reported that approximately one in three Australian households own a Bryce Courtenay book. Bryce started writing novels aged 52: twenty-one books in twenty-three years. Most of them became

 
Bryce Courtenay AM never wrote an autobiography, choosing to tell his story though his novels. To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Bryce's passing, Penguin Random House pays tribute to Bryce by publishing Bryce Courtenay: Storyteller written by his wife Christine Courtenay.

In Bryce Courtenay: Storyteller, Christine draws on reflections from Bryce's close friends, colleagues and family, as well as insights from media coverage over decades. Known for his determination, creativity and application of 'bum glue', he was a man who made a huge impact on the cultural life of his adopted country, first as a legendary advertising creative and later as a bestselling author. The story of his life reads like one of his epic novels: a tough childhood, then risking his life down the mines before heading to London, finding love and docking in Australia with only a suitcase. It's a story of challenging times, heartache, humour and holding tight to a dream. Bryce Courtenay:

Storyteller shares the experiences that shaped Australia's favourite storyteller and inspired his novels:
• His illegitimate birth in South Africa to Maud Jessamine Greer ('Paddy'); a challenging childhood spent in
hostels and institutions; South Africa's Apartheid system which left an indelible impression on Bryce.
• Formative encounters with African friends, landscapes and wildlife, which appear in The Power of One, Tandia, Whitethorn, The Night Country, Jack of Diamonds, and The Silver Moon.
• Working with explosives underground as a 'grizzly' in the mines of Northern Rhodesia to fund travel to London to study journalism, where he met his first wife Benita Solomon.
• Travelling to Australia by ship, and an instant love affair with his adopted country that's reflected in The Potato Factory, Tommo & Hawk, Solomon's Song ('The Australian Trilogy'), Jessica, Four Fires, Matthew Flinders' Cat, and The Story of Danny Dunn.
• Building a dazzling career in the 'mad men' world of Advertising, captured in Fortune Cookie, and helping to create the legendary campaigns Louie The Fly and the Milky Bar Kid, among others.
• Publication of The Power of One in 1989, which became an instant international bestseller.
• The birth of his three children and the joy of fatherhood, and the tragic death of his son Damon in 1991,
recounted in his only autobiographical work, April Fool's Day.
• The highs and lows that followed both fame and fortune; the love story of Bryce and Christine; Bryce's
confronting diagnosis of gastric cancer in late 2010, and his health battle before passing away on 22 November 2012 aged 79.

Q & A with Christine Courtney on book Bryce Courtney: Storyteller

What was your motivation to write Bryce Courtney: Storyteller?

In June 2020 I discovered a collection of letters in a battered cardboard box in my garage which I never knew existed. They were penned by Bryce, and I knew I had discovered a cache of pure gold for writing his life story. The memoir is my love story to Bryce and pays tribute to his astonishing life and literary legacy. It ultimately felt like the best possible way for me to commemorate the tenth year of his passing, and I am delighted that the book is dedicated to Bryce's three beloved grandchildren Ben, Jake, and Marcus.

What did you learn, about yourself, whilst writing Bryce Courtney: Storyteller?

While researching and writing the memoir I realised I was holding onto a lot of unresolved grief, so it was a very emotional journey but one which has proven to be both cathartic and uplifting. We often underestimate what we are capable of, and hopefully my completing this memoir will inspire others to hold tight to their dreams, just as Bryce always did having dreamt of becoming a storyteller from a very early age.

Was it difficult reliving certain times of your life, whilst writing Bryce Courtney: Storyteller?

Writing about the past can be confronting and it was difficult to decide how much to share, and how to approach some of the more sensitive subjects. It was especially sad writing about the consequences of Bryce's final illness even though he endured them with great personal courage, humour, and kindness just as he had done throughout his life.

Do you have a favourite Bryce Courtney book and why?

I love Whitethorn which Bryce told me was his most autobiographical work. It is set in Africa and when Bryce wrote about Africa it just poured out of him. You are immersed in an almost cinematic experience and can feel the dust in your nostrils, and see the game roaming the Bushveld, as you absorb the exotic cultural landscape in which the dramatic story is unfolding. It was published in 2005, and by then Bryce's writing muscle was well and truly honed. It's a compelling book, which at times delivers an almost poetic luminosity and I never tire of reading it.

What advice do you have for aspiring writers or artists?

The most important thing is to make a start, and not be held back by your own insecurities or what others might be saying. You must then commit to finishing the work and recognise that you need to 'dig the verbal ditches' while applying truckloads of what Bryce used to call 'bum glue'. Look after your health and well-being too as writing a book extracts a far heavier toll than I ever imagined. Decide to create a work which you will look back upon and say, "I gave this my all and I couldn't have done a single thing more". Don't settle for anything less, and then acknowledge your achievement and allow yourself to dream of what may follow.