Boori Monty Pryor
{{Short description|Aboriginal Australian storyteller and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{use Australian English|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
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| birth_date = 1950
| birth_place = Townsville, Queensland, Australia
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| occupation = Novelist
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Boori Monty Pryor (born 1950) is an Aboriginal Australian author best known as a storyteller and as the inaugural Australian Children's Laureate (2012{{ndash}}2013).{{cite web|title= Austlit — Boori Monty Pryor |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A28129|access-date= 22 January 2025}}
Early life and family
Pryor is descended from the Birri Gubba nation of the Bowen region and the Kunggandji people from Yarrabah, near Cairns. His father was Monty Prior.{{cite web | author=Austlit | title=Boori Pryor | website=AustLit: Discover Australian Stories | date=17 September 2019 | url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A28129 | access-date=18 October 2020}}
Career
Pryor had a long career communicating Aboriginal Australian culture to schools in Australia, performing dances, playing didgeridoo, and storytelling, before turning to writing books. He has worked in film and television, sport, and music. In 1986, Boori had an acting role alongside his brother Paul Pryor in “Women of the Sun”.{{cite journal |last=Sheahan-Bright |first=Robyn |date=May 2013 |title=The Inaugural Australian Children's Laureate: 'First Term' Report 2012-2013 |url=http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/news-article/the-inaugural-australian-childrens-laureate-by-robyn-sheahan-bright-magpies-magazine-volume-28/ |journal=Magpies: Talking About Books for Children |publisher=Magpies Magazine Pty Ltd |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=18{{ndash}}21 |access-date=17 May 2014}}{{cite journal |last=Stewart |first=Lucy |date=April–May 2012 |title=Meet the Laureates |url=http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/news-article/meet-the-laureates-in-bookseller-publisher-magazine/ |journal=Bookseller+Publisher Magazine |publisher=Bookseller+Publisher |volume=91 |issue=8 |page=8}}{{cite journal |last=Osborne |first=Marj |date=September 2012 |title=Australian Children's Laureates—an invitation to join the story circle |url=http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/news-article/the-australian-childrens-laureates-an-invitation-to-join-the-story-circle/ |journal=Access |publisher=Australian School Library Association (ASLA) |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=26{{ndash}}27}}
In his keynote address for the 2013 Come Out Festival in Adelaide, Pryor spoke about the importance of storytelling, performance, and dance in engaging children with literacy, literature, and Indigenous cultures.{{cite speech |title=keynote address |first=Boori Monty |last=Pryor |event=Come Out Festival 2013 |location=Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, Australia
|date=27 May 2013 |url=http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/event/boori-monty-pryor-keynote-address-at-come-out-festival/
|access-date=17 May 2014}}
Pryor was an ambassador for the National Year of Reading (Australia) in 2012.{{Cite web|url=http://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/news-article/boori-monty-pryor-at-the-national-year-of-reading-launch-canberra/|title=Boori Monty Pryor at the National Year of Reading Launch, Canberra|date=5 March 2012|website=Australian Children's Laureate|access-date=25 May 2019}}
In film
In 2018, ABC iView released the web/television series Wrong Kind of Black, narrated by and based on Pryor’s life.{{cite web | last=Latimore | first=Jack | title=Wrong Kind of Black: Boori Monty Pryor's quirky web series a return to 70s Australia | website=the Guardian | date=5 August 2018 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/aug/05/wrong-kind-of-black-boori-monty-pryors-quirky-web-series-a-return-to-70s-australia | access-date=18 October 2020}} In September 2019, the web series was nominated for an International Emmy.{{cite web | title='Safe Harbour', 'Wrong Kind of Black' and 'The Cry' up for International Emmy Awards | website=IF Magazine |first= Natalie |last=Apostolou| date=19 September 2019 | url=https://www.if.com.au/safe-harbour-wrong-kind-of-black-and-the-cry-up-for-international-emmy-awards/ | access-date=18 October 2020}}
Awards and honours
In 1990, Pryor received the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Award as a result of his "outstanding contribution to the promotion of Indigenous culture".{{Cite web|url=https://www.allenandunwin.com/authors/p/boori-monty-pryor|title=Boori Monty Pryor|website=Allen & Unwin|access-date=3 February 2017}}
In 2011, Shake a Leg won the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Children’s Fiction. In 2012, Pryor and Alison Lester were named the first inaugural Australian Children's Laureates.
Pryor's works, including those in collaboration with Meme McDonald, have also won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award. Maybe Tomorrow (1998) won a Special Commendation from the Human Rights Awards and My Girragundji (1998), won a Children's Book Council of Australia Award, while The Binna Binna Man (1999), won several awards.
Selected works
Picture Books
- Shake a Leg, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (2010), winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Children's Fiction in 2011
- Story Doctors, illustrated by Rita Sinclair (2021)
Young adult novels
- My Girragundji, co-authored with Meme McDonald (1998), winner of a Children's Book Council of Australia Award
- The Binna Binna Man, co-authored with Meme McDonald (1999), won an Ethnic Affairs Commission Award in 2000
- Njunjul the Sun, co-authored with Meme McDonald (2002)
- Flytrap, co-authored with Meme McDonald (2002)
Non-fiction
- Maybe Tomorrow, co-authored with Meme McDonald (1998)
References
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{{Children's Book of the Year Award for Younger Readers}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Boori Monty}}
Category:Indigenous Australian writers
Category:Australian children's writers
Category:Writers from Queensland