Copyright © Neil Grant 2011
Neil Grant
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.neilgrant.com.au
Mobile: 0413 245 760
@gortus
Curriculum Vitae
Neil Grant
ABN 78 631 473 443
About the author
Neil Grant was born in Scotland in the Year of the Fire Horse. He
learnt to speak Australian at the age of thirteen when he migrated to
Melbourne to ride kangaroos. He finished high school at the International School of Kuala Lumpur then spent years blundering
through Indonesia, Israel, Yugoslavia, India, Nepal, Thailand,
Greece, Italy, the UK and Tasmania. To research his latest novel,
The Ink Bridge, he travelled (quietly) through Afghanistan.
Sometimes he escapes to write and dream in a mudbrick cottage he
built himself on the Far South Coast of NSW.
Neil has three children and lives in Cottles Bridge, Victoria.
www.neilgrant.com.au
1000 Pencils, Melbourne Writers’ Festival, 2010
Festivals and talks
New Voices, Eltham, 2010
Sustainable Living Festival, Federation Square, 2010
Arts Victoria Artists-in-Schools information evening, 2010
Poetry at Fed Square, 2011
Friendship and hope rising from the ashes, Bush Telegraph, Radio National, 2011
1000 Pencils
Kinglake Revisited
Book Factory: Mobile Publishing Workshop for Children
Melbourne Writers’ Festival, 2011
Probus Club of Upper Yarra, 2011
The Somerset Festival of Literature, 2012
2005
Goog’s best mate Castro vanished into the
Southern Ocean but his body was never
found. So Goog flies north, chasing his
ghost. He hooks up with Niagara – a young
American hunting his own illusions – and
together they set off on a wild, gritty, surf
odyssey. But are they actually at the mercy of
an unseen puppet master, and what will they
find in the surreal shadow-lands of Indonesia?
Indo Dreaming is a vivid and enigmatic novel
for anyone who has the spirit of travel
wedged in their soul.
‘A young man, a surfboard, an odyssey through beautifully evoked
emotional landscape and surfing experiences... Neil Grant’s prose is
poetic, without flourish and mesmerising.’
Helen Wilde, Education Department, SA
'Grant's ability to take the reader into the wild and foreign Indonesia
is a delight.'
Ben Beaton, Australian Bookseller and Publisher
'Indo Dreaming is a great book to read when you have sand between
your toes or even salt water on the brain.'
Kirrily, aged 15, Canberra, ACT
Shortlisted Queensland Premier’s Award 2005
Shortlisted Melbourne Prize Best Writing Award 2006
Allen & Unwin, 2005
A DEAD-END LIFE A BIG-WAVE
DREAM AN EPIC SURFARI
School's out, but Goog is about to learn three
new Rs — relationships, responsibility and
revenge — as he and Castro go barrelling
across the country in Aldo’s old Kingswood.
Sharks the size of trucks, a sinister hitchhiker,
campervan tourists, neo-Nazis, wild-haired
surf fiends — three guys can get into a lot of
trouble covering four thousand kilometres of
coastline.
2002
'Grant's vivid description of surfing action is awesome; likewise his
ability to describe changing landscapes in a few strokes… The best
surfing novel since Kem Nunn’s Dogs of Winter'
Mike Shuttleworth, Australian Bookseller and Publisher
'I thought this was a great book and especially liked the way the
characters related to each other, in terms of the language they use
— the imagery was fantastic and I would urge everyone, 16 years
and older to race out and buy a copy.'
Riannon Leonarder, Year 11 (Illawarra Mercury)
Allen & Unwin, 2002
The 1000
Pencils
Project
2009-10
Conceived as a sharing
of stories between two
cultures (a bushfireaffected suburban high
school in Melbourne
and the International
School of Kabul) this
anthology grew into
something more far-reaching and long lasting. Initially funded by Arts Victoria as part
of their Artist-in-Schools program, Neil
worked with leading teacher David Williams at Diamond Valley
College to produce the self-published anthology 1000 Pencils. Allen
& Unwin published a much revised version (From Kinglake to Kabul)
on the second anniversary of Black Saturday in 2011. The new version contained responses to the fire and war stories and a metanarrative with which Neil attempted to weave the stories together.
Students on both sides of the project learnt of the varied
ways we cope with disaster and how empathy can help us come to
terms with our own situations. On a practical level, students gained
valuable experience in writing, editing, design and public speaking
(including radio, TV and newspaper interviews).
The project highlight was a visit from
staff and students from the International
School of Kabul in 2010. A group presentation was unveiled at the Melbourne Writers’
Festival that year.
This is a story of two silent boys. One born in
a land of great beauty, and of great violence.
The other who could not escape the past.
They were both tied together by words. Both
silenced by tragedy. The hardest bridge that
Hec will ever build is the one that leads to
Omed.
The Ink Bridge is a timely novel that explores
the friendship between an Afghan refugee and
a young Australian.
2012
Neil visited Kabul and Bamiyan in Afghanistan in 2009 to research this novel. The images and people he encountered there
strengthened his resolve to tell this story.
Further information regarding this journey can be found on
Blogistan (www.neilgrant.com.au)
Allen & Unwin, 2012
This project has been assisted by the
Australian Government through the
Australia Council, its arts funding
and advisory body.
This project was supported by the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria.
Education:
1985 Graduated International School of
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2000 Diploma of Arts in Professional Writing and Editing, RMIT, Melbourne
2011 Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing,
RMIT, Melbourne
History
Employment:
Interactive Toy Program, RMIT, Content Writer, 2010
School Visits, Residencies & Writing Workshops:
St Leonard's College (extended residency), Diamond Valley College
(Patron of writer’s club 2007, Artist-in-School 2009), Lakeside Secondary College, Methodist Ladies' College, Kuranjang Secondary
College, Yarrawonga Secondary College (Arts Holiday Program),
Beaconhills Secondary College, Distance Education Victoria, Brimbank College, Eltham North Primary, Eltham High School
Whether it is creation of
content or a public
speaker that you are after,
Neil can provide you
with a professionally
delivered but artistically
inspired product. He is
equally at home speaking
to a class full of high
school students or a
room of discerning
adults. His long association
with both imaginary and real worlds allows him to hop deftly between the two. He can deliver workshops to students or adults and
help to create an anthology of their work. His editing and design
experience and contacts within the industry, can help you to realise
a realm of basic or professional publications. He can speak about
the process of writing or of the research trips in India, Australia,
Afghanistan and Indonesia that have provided material for his novels.
The Future
Most of all, he is a grounded individual who enjoys talking to people, be they young or old. He learns nearly everything he needs to
know by listening, the rest he finds in books.
Kinglake Ranges Neighbourhood House, adult writing workshops,
2007
Mentoring:
Wakakirri Festival 2007, young adult mentor
Please contact Neil via any of the methods on the first page of this
publication.