Stephen Orr is an Australian writer of novels, short stories and non-fiction. His works are set in uniquely Australian settings, including coastal towns, outback regions and the Australian suburbs. His fiction explores the dynamics of Australian families and communities. In a 2021 review of Orr’s ''Sincerely, Ethel Malley'' the author and critic Michael McGirr explained that Orr ‘is a prolific writer and his work is characterised by a methodical ability to deal with issues of substance. His writing has the energy required to sustain long narratives but is never histrionic.'

Life

Stephen Orr was born in the Adelaide suburb of

Hillcrest, South Australia Hillcrest is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield local government area. It is around 10 km northeast of the city centre. It was best known as the location of the Hillcrest Hospital, a state government institution for ...

, later reimagined as Gleneagles in his 2019 novel ''This Excellent Machine''. He was a long-time contributor to The Adelaide Review (2008-2020) and has written for The ''Guardian'', ''Advertiser'', ''Sydney Morning Herald/Age'', ''Australian Book Review'' and other Australian newspapers and journals.

Career

2000-2010
Orr’s first novel ''Attempts to Draw Jesus'' (based on the disappearance of two jackaroos in the

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in 1986) was runner-up in the 2000 ''Australian''/Vogel’s Literary Award and published in 2002. His second novel, ''Hill of Grace'', a portrait of a 1950s Barossa Valley religious cult awaiting the

rapture The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...

, was released in 2004. In 2010 he published ''Time’s Long Ruin'', a fictional study of grief following the disappearance of three children in 1960s Adelaide. It was later adapted by the State Opera of South Australia as the opera ''Innocence'', with libretto by Adam Goodburn and music by

Anne Cawrse Anne Cawrse ( "coarse"; born 23 January 1981) is an Australian composer based in South Australia. she is on the composition staff at Elder Conservatorium of Music. Early life and education Anne Cawrse was born on 23 January 1981 After growing ...

.

2010-Present
His 2012 novel ''Dissonance'' was a re-imagining of the lives of Rose and Percy Grainger. In the same year, his large scale ‘play for voices’ ''Westward Ho!'' was performed by a cast of international actors at the 2021 Adelaide Fringe Festival under the direction of

Guy Masterson Guy Alexander Masterson (''Mastroianni''; born 10 August 1961) is a British actor, writer, theatre director, producer and playwright widely known for his solo theatre performances of ''Under Milk Wood'', ''Animal Farm'', and ''Shylock'' by Ga ...

. His 2014 venture into crime writing, ''One Boy Missing'', described the discovery of a lost boy in a small outback town, and the subsequent search for the cause of his trauma. ''The Hands'' (2015) was an examination of the fallout from drought and generational debt on a grazing family in remote South Australia. His novella ‘Datsunland’ was co-winner of the 2016 Griffith Review ''54 Earthly Delights: The Novella Project IV'' and was published in the same year. This story also appeared in his 2017 book of short stories, ''Datsunland''.
''Incredible Floridas'' (2017) was loosely based on the relationship between Australian artist

Russell Drysdale Sir George Russell Drysdale (7 February 1912 – 29 June 1981), also known as Tass Drysdale, was an Australian artist. He won the prestigious Wynne Prize for ''Sofala'' in 1947, and represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 1954. He was i ...

and his son, Tim. His most recent books include a collection of outback stories (''The Fierce Country'', 2018), the semi-autobiographical novel ''This Excellent Machine'' (2019), a riff on the 1944 Earn Malley literary hoax (''Sincerely, Ethel Malley'', 2021) and a second collection of stories, ''The Boy in Time'' (2022). He was the ''Australian Book Review'' 2020 Eucalypt Fellow, completing the long-form essay ''Ambassadors from Another Time'' (2020). Concerned about a lack of engaging books for boys in his classes he wrote and published ''The Lanternist'', an Edwardian adventure story with illustrations by Timothy Ide, in 2021.

Novels and novellas

* ''Attempts to draw Jesus'' 2002 * ''Hill of Grace'' 2004 * ''Time’s Long Ruin'' 2010 * ''Dissonance'' 2012 * ''One Boy Missing'' 2014 * ''The Hands'' 2015 * ‘Datsunland’ 2016 * ''Incredible Floridas'' 2017 * ''This Excellent Machine'' 2019 * ''Sincerely, Ethel Malley'' 2021 Young Adult novel: * ''The Lanternist'' 2021 Short Story Collections: * ''Datsunland'' 2017 * ''The Boy in Time'' 2022 Plays and Screenplays: * ''Bloodwood'' (screenplay adaptation of the novel Attempts to Draw Jesus, co-written with Peter O’Brien) 2014 * ''Westward Ho!'' (play for voices) 2012

External links

Official website

Griffith Review author interview

Wakefield Press author profile

Australian Book Review podcast ‘Ambassadors from Another Time’

Westward Ho! Full recording from 2012

Stephen Orr at AusLit

Time’s Long Ruin (for piano) by Anne Cawrse

Working with Words (interview with The Wheeler Centre)

Stephen Orr at Muck Rack (reviews, articles, essay and other non-fiction)

The Adelaide Review (articles and extracts)

In conversation with Paul Barclay

References

Australian writers 1967 births Living people {{more cats, date=January 2024