Boori Monty Pryor

Boori Monty Pryor (born 1950) is an Indigenous Australian author best known as a storyteller and as the inaugural Australian Children's Laureate (2012–2013).[1][2][3]

Pryor is descended from the Birri-gubba nation of the Bowen region and the Kunggandji people from Yarrabah, near Cairns. He had a long career communicating Indigenous 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”. In 1990, Pryor received the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee Award as a result of his "outstanding contribution to the promotion of Indigenous culture."[4]

In 2011, Pryor’s book “Shake A Leg” won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Fiction. In 2012, Pryor and Allison Lester were named the first inaugural Australian Children’s Literature Laureates. 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.[5] Pryor was an ambassador for the National Year of Reading (Australia) in 2012.[6]

In 2018, ABC iView released web-series “Wrong Kind of Black” narrated by and based on Pryor’s life. In October 2019, the web-series was nominated for an International Emmy. As of 2018, a documentary about Boori is in production.

Bibliography

Picture Books

  • Shake a Leg, illustrated by Jan Ormerod (2010), winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Children's Fiction in 2011.

Young adult novels

  • Njunjul the Sun, co-authored with Meme McDonald (2002)
  • The Binna Binna Man, co-authored with Meme McDonald (1999), won an Ethnic Affairs Commission Award in 2000
  • My Girragundji, co-authored with Meme McDonald (1998), winner of a Children's Book Council of Australia Award
  • Flytrap, co-authored with Meme McDonald (2002)

Non-fiction

  • Maybe Tomorrow, co-authored with Meme McDonald (1998)
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References
  1. Sheahan-Bright, Robyn (May 2013). "The Inaugural Australian Children's Laureate: 'First Term' Report 2012-2013". Magpies: Talking About Books for Children. Magpies Magazine Pty Ltd. 28 (2): 18–21. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  2. Stewart, Lucy (April–May 2012). "Meet the Laureates". Bookseller+Publisher Magazine. Bookseller+Publisher. 91 (8): 8.
  3. Osborne, Marj (September 2012). "Australian Children's Laureates—an invitation to join the story circle". Access. Australian School Library Association (ASLA). 26 (3): 26–27.
  4. "Boori Monty Pryor". Allen & Unwin. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  5. Pryor, Boori Monty (27 May 2013). keynote address (Speech). Come Out Festival 2013. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide, Australia. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  6. "BOORI MONTY PRYOR AT THE NATIONAL YEAR OF READING LAUNCH, CANBERRA". Australian Children's Laureate. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2019.


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