NLA image of person
William Yang William Yang i(A20025 works by) (birth name: William Young)
Born: Established: 1943 Mareeba - Atherton - Ravenshoe area, Ingham - Cairns area, Queensland, ;
Gender: Male
Heritage: Chinese
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 My Queensland William Yang , 2014 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Peril : An Asian-Australian Journal , no. 18 2014;
1 1 form y separately published work icon William Yang : My Generation William Yang , ( dir. Martin Fox ) Australia : Felix Media Pty Ltd , 2013 6056532 2013 single work film/TV

'In the '70s and '80s, photographer William Yang captured Sydney's emerging artistic, literary, theatrical and queer circles, as well as his friendships with artists, writers and fashion designers such as Brett Whiteley, Patrick White,Linda Jackson and Jenny Kee. With myriad images and his trademark candid narration, Yang leads us through this beguilingly decadent and creative era.' (Source: Screen Australia website)

1 3 I Am a Camera William Yang , 2012 single work drama 'Photographer William Yang is renowned for his poignant work, exploring social diversity, belonging and travel.

From behind the camera, he has connected with audiences around the world with his intimate photographs and observations of events and people around him.

Now Yang gets really personal. Intrigued by Facebook and the voyeurism it invites, he opens the shutter on his own life with characteristic wry humour and emotional honesty in this very engaging slideshow.

I Am A Camera
sees Yang collaborating for the first time with celebrated composer Elena Kats-Chernin, whose work for live cello and percussion will drive Yang's deeply-felt narrative and remarkable images.' (Source: Sydney Festival 2012 website)
1 From : Sadness William Yang , 2009 extract autobiography (Sadness)
— Appears in: Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature 2009; (p. 1078-1080)
1 3 My Generation William Yang , 2008 single work multimedia

''My Generation' is a work incorporating spoken word, image projection and live music. [It] is a reflection on William's experience and documentation of the artistic, bohemian, and underground social scenes in Sydney in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 'My Generation' recalls the glamour of Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson's fashion events, the strengthening of the Sydney gay and lesbian community and the flowering of the Sydney Mardi Gras, and the theatrical circle of Jim Sharman, Kate Fitzpatrick and Patrick White.'

Source: National Portrait Gallery website, http://www.portrait.gov.au/
Sighted: 24/11/2008

1 2 y separately published work icon China William Yang , 2007 Strawberry Hills : Currency Press , 2008 Z1432729 2007 single work drama

'Through video and photos, Yang takes audiences from the streets of Beijing, where electronics superstores jostle with echoes of the Cultural Revolution and the Ming Dynasty, to the sacred mountain Huang Shan, a must-climb for every Chinese pilgrim-tourist; from a wild night in a Mongolian herdsman's hut, to the apartments of ordinary Chinese, a few months after the Tiananmen incident. His wryly sensitive perspective, eye for detail and arresting images come together with Nicholas Ng's haunting live score for the erhu (Chinese violin) and pipa (Chinese lute), in an unforgettable theatrical experience.

'China' is Yang's ninth monologue performance, in a career that has seen him become Australia's most toured performing artist. As always, Yang's work is part social documentary and part personal observation, creating a meditative space and a journey of reflection for performer and audience alike. With 'China', Yang explores the personal story of an Australian-born Chinese who is a stranger in his homeland, while at the same time asking big questions about the meaning of culture, of heritage and of belonging.' Source: www.melbournefestival.com.au/2007_program/ (Sighted 02/10/2007).

1 3 y separately published work icon Emma's Dynasty William Yang , 2007 Z1402280 2007 single work drama children's Emma's Dynasty is the story of a young Australian girl who is transported, in the style of Alice in Wonderland, to meet a Chinese grandmother she never knew she had. In listening to her grandmother's stories, Emma is transported back in time. She finds herself in Imperial China, then in China at the time of the Communist Revolution and finally in Australia as an immigrant during the days of the White Australia policy.
(Source: The Canberra Times (Times 2) 27/6/07 p.8)
1 3 Objects for Meditation William Yang , 2005 single work drama
1 4 Shadows William Yang , 2002 single work drama

'Monologues with slides - part social documentary, part personal observation, Shadows presents a moving account of two communities haunted by the shadows of history: Aboriginal people in outback Enngonia, and German migrants to South Australia, interned during the World Wars. In Shadows, Yang combines his own photography with found images stowed away by families for generations, to take us on a journey of dispossession and reconciliation.'

Source: http://www.jwcoca.qld.gov.au/02_whats_on/details.asp?e_id=349 (Sighted 02/06/06)

1 y separately published work icon Australian Chinese William Yang , Canberra : National Portrait Gallery , 2001 Z1268031 2001 single work biography
1 2 y separately published work icon Blood Links William Yang , 1999 2002 Z1049621 1999 single work drama This work is the sixth performance text the author has made since 1989. It is a blend of slide show, storytelling, documentary photography, family history and social commentary.
1 1 form y separately published work icon Sadness : A Monologue William Yang , Tony Ayres , ( dir. Tony Ayres ) Lindfield : Film Australia , 1999 Z1000591 1999 single work film/TV (taught in 3 units) Based on photographer William Yang's one-man stage show, Sadness is a journey into the past and a heartbreaking testament to the significant traces people leave behind. Through the use of slides, oral history, and stylised recreations, Yang investigates the murder of his uncle Fang Yuen in the sugar cane fields of northern Queensland. Running alongside this narrative is a series of moving portraits of the many friends and lovers Yang has lost to AIDS. What emerges is a powerful requiem for the dead and a moving portrayal of the legacy that family and friends leave with the living.
1 Coffee with Lois William Yang , 1998 single work short story
— Appears in: Screwed : Stories About Love and Sex 1998; (p. 88-103)
1 1 Friends of Dorothy William Yang , 1998 single work drama (taught in 1 units)
1 Grafton William Yang , 1997 single work short story
— Appears in: Hard : Stories About Gay Men and Sex 1997; The Penguin Book of Gay Australian Writing 2002; (p. 278-294)
1 2 y separately published work icon Sadness William Yang , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1996 Z1129731 1996 single work autobiography (taught in 1 units)
1 The Man from the Caribbean William Yang , 1996 single work short story
— Appears in: String of Pearls : Stories About Cross-Dressing 1996; (p. 59-82)
1 Photo-Essay William Yang , 1995 single work essay
— Appears in: Beyond Black and White : The Many Faces of Australia 1995; (p. 235-238)
1 Window on White William Yang , 1995 single work biography
— Appears in: Good Weekend , 28 October 1995; (p. 62-65)
1 My Chinese Identity William Yang , 1995 single work autobiography
— Appears in: From Yellow Earth to Eucalypt : Stories and Poems from China and Australia 1995; (p. 28-33)
X