person or book cover
Boori Pryor Boori Pryor i(A28129 works by) (a.k.a. Boori Monty Pryor; Monty Pryor)
Born: Established: 1950 Townsville, Townsville area, Marlborough - Mackay - Townsville area, Queensland, ;
Gender: Male
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Birri-Gubba Juru
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BiographyHistory

Boori Pryor is a descendant of the Kungganji and Birri-Gubba people of North Queensland. Boori has worked in the film and television industry and also theatre-in-education. He is best-known as a storyteller, travelling widely to introduce his culture to young Australians.

In collaboration with Meme McDonald, he has published a series of books based on his life and the stories of his family. Their first collaboration, Maybe Tomorrow (1998), received a Special Commendation from the Human Rights Awards and their second, My Girragundji (1998), won a Children's Book Council of Australia Award. They have since published several more books, most notably The Binna Binna Man (1999), which won several awards, including the Ethnic Affairs Commission Award in 2000.

In 2012-2013, Pryor was the joint inaugural Australian Children's Laureate. His work has been taught in universities across Australia, and has won multiple awards, including the Prime Minister's Literary Award, the Victorian Premier's Literary award, and the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award (which he won in three categories, for the same novel, in 2000).

Boori's father was Monty Prior.

Exhibitions

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2012-2013 Australian Children's Laureate Joint inaugural appointee with Alison Lester.

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Story Doctors Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 21507738 2021 single work picture book children's

'This is a book for everybody. Welcome! Take a seat! And listen carefully, because this story has a heartbeat. Can you feel it, there in your chest?

'Legendary storyteller Boori Monty Pryor invites us to travel with him from the first footsteps through 80,000+ years of strength, sickness, and immense possibility.

'From the very first stories and art, to dance, language, and connection with the land, Boori offers a powerful, beautiful, and deeply rich account of Australia's true history, drawing on a lifetime of wisdom, and on his generous instinct to teach and heal.

'An exquisitely illustrated celebration of the power of storytelling to unite us, how nature connects us, and the wonderful truth that the medicine needed for healing lies within us all.' (Publication summary)

2022 shortlisted The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature Karajia Award
form y separately published work icon Wrong Kind of Black ( dir. Catriona McKenzie ) Australia : Princess Pictures Youthworx Productions , 2018 14128979 2018 series - publisher film/TV

'From the cops and the crocs of 1960s Palm Island to the blood-spattered dance floors of Melbourne in the '70s, Wrong Kind of Black is the personal story of Boori Monty Pryor (Clarence Ryan, in a career-making performance) and his brother Paul (Aaron McGrath). This four part high end digital drama comedy series brings a rare perspective to a tumultuous era in Australia’s history, one that resonates just as strongly today.

'At the height of the ‘70s disco inferno, Monty is Melbourne’s hottest DJ. Dubbed ‘The Black Superman’, Monty spins tunes at the Albion Charles Hotel where he and younger brother Paul rub shoulders with a motley crew of Russian mobsters and Aussie yobbos alike. The ‘fro and the flares seem like worlds away from Monty’s childhood on remote Palm Island – but beneath the surface, not much has changed. Aboriginal culture is still not welcome in white society, and the price of its preservation can be deadly. As tensions escalate and trouble keeps finding the two brothers, Monty decides that enough is enough and takes his future into his own hands.

'Although the Wrong Kind of Black takes us back to the 1960s and '70s, this personal account is as much the story of Indigenous Australia today as it was back then. It is a story of extremes – heartbreak and triumph, unconditional love and blind hatred, innocence and wisdom, black and white – always told with great humour and an enduring sense of hope.'

Source: ACMI (https://www.acmi.net.au/events/wrong-kind-black/). (Sighted: 29/6/2018)

2018 shortlisted AWGIE Awards Web Series and Other Non-Broadcast Short Works
2019 nominated The International Emmy Awards Short-form series Source: International Emmy Website
y separately published work icon Shake a Leg Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2010 Z1733607 2010 single work picture book children's (taught in 1 units) 'From pizza shop to bora ground, here is a joyous celebration of food, dance and cultural understanding. When three young boys go to a pizza parlour and meet an Aboriginal chef who can speak Italian and make a deadly pizza, they're in for a surprise!' Source: www.allenandunwin.com/ (Sighted 26/05/2011).
2011 Notable Book CBCA Book of the Year Awards Picture Book of the Year
2011 shortlisted Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Best Book for Language Development – Indigenous Children
2011 shortlisted Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Best Language Development Book for Lower Primary Children (2005-2013)
2011 winner Prime Minister's Literary Awards Children's Fiction
Last amended 17 Sep 2019 20:21:00
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