TALK: Friends of the Library talk

Michael Crouch will speak on his experiences in writing the biography of Tom Hungerford – the “grand old man of Australian literature”. The author of four major novels, as well as short stories and poems, Hungerford has also been a solder and traveller.

This biography also takes an in-depth look at Tom Hungerford the man, the archetypal bachelor of the post-war years. He represents the Australian of yesteryear, when the country still retained a certain innocence and his native Perth was just a big country town.

Michael will also discuss biography writing as a “craft”, provide an introduction to himself as the biographer and provide some background to the writing of the biography itself.

About the Speaker

Michael Crouch came to professional writing late in life, after an education at Cambridge and Oxford universities, careers in the British Overseas Services in South Arabia (now Yemen) and in industry and commerce in Western Australia, followed by some years as a school teacher and educational management consultant. The Literary Larrikin is Michael’s fourth book: his autobiography, An Element of Luck, was first published in 1993. His first biography, Bwana Safari, was released in Kenya in 2003 and his novel, The Terrorist was published in the USA also in 2003. He has also written numerous articles for publications ranging from Australian Geographic to the Australian Financial Review and the International Herald Tribune. Michael is currently working on a biography of a woman who led a fascinating life in the first half of the 20th century, whose diaries and writings he holds. Michael lives with his wife Jenny in West Perth.

Members: Free; Non-members: $5.00 donation