Review of David Williamson: A writer's Career, by Brian Kiernan
Abstract
Like its 1990 hardback predecessor, the 'completely revised paperback edition' of Brian Kiernan's biography of David Williamson contextualises the playwright's career in nationalist terms as part of the process of cultural transformation in the 1970s which saw Australians abandon the 'cringe' and increasingly accept and express confidence in the value of local creativity. Kiernan continues to present Williamson's spectacular success in sustaining a fulltime living scriptwriting for both the local and international markets as a 'romance' which registers the hard won (though not entirely secure) cultural gains of the previous decades. The updated version extends coverage of Williamson's career from 1988 to 1996, but preserves Kiernan's initial view of its shape, significance and direction.
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Published 1 May 1997 in Volume 18 No. 1. Subjects: Playwrights, David Williamson.
Cite as: De Groen, Frances. ‘Review of David Williamson: A writer's Career, by Brian Kiernan.’ Australian Literary Studies, vol. 18, no. 1, 1997, doi: 10.20314/als.95bfeeaa28.