John Bryson (author)


John Bryson AM is an Australian author and former lawyer. He has written works of fiction, biography and non-fiction.

Life

Bryson was educated at the University of Melbourne, where he studied law.

Career

In 1971, after practising law for 10 years, first as a solicitor and later as a barrister, he became chairman and managing director of a Melbourne public company. In 1978, he rejoined the Victorian Bar. He was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council, later becoming acting chairman.

Works

Since 1973, Bryson's articles and stories have been published in Australian newspapers.
Bryson's best known work is his 1985 book Evil Angels: The Case of Lindy Chamberlain which chronicles the story of Lindy Chamberlain's trial for murder, following the Death of Azaria Chamberlain. It was made into a film of the same name starring Meryl Streep in 1988. It was released under its original title in Australia and New Zealand and as A Cry in the Dark in other English-speaking territories, including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa. It is also known by similar titles internationally.
Bryson is also the author of a 1981 collection of short fiction, Whoring Around, and a collection of reportage, Backstage at the Revolution. His novel of the Spanish Civil War, To the Death, Amic, was published by Viking in 1994 and as Hasta la Muerte, Amigo by Editorial Milenio Spain in 2006. In 2004 he originated and co-produced Secrets of the Juryroom, a documentary for SBS-TV.
In 2013, he was published in eBook format for both works of fiction and non-fiction. Many of the non-fictions titles included collections of articles he had published as a journalist.

Awards