The Writers Write Interview – Bryce Courtenay

Read our Writers Write interview with Bryce Courtenay.

The Writers Write Interview With Bryce Courtenay

Author: Bryce Courtenay
Birthday: 14 August 1933
Date: 8 February 2006
Where: Writers Write, Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Book: Whitethorn (Penguin Viking)

1. Who is your favourite hero of fiction?

Jock of the Bushveld.

2. What is your most treasured possession?

A painting by my then 8-year-old son, Brett, who painted what he thought Africa was like.

3. Which living person do you most dislike?

John Howard – Australian Prime Minister.

4. What is your greatest fear?

Not being loved.

5. Who or what has been the greatest love of your life?

My first wife, Benita.

6. What is your greatest regret?

Not starting to write before the age of 55.

7. If you could choose to be a character in a book, who would it be?

Oliver Twist – because Dickens made me realise that I was not alone at the age of 7.

8.   Which book have you read the most in your lifetime?

Catch-22 – six times.

9.   What is your favourite journey?

The South Georgia Peninsula, Antarctica.

10.  What do you most value in a friend?

Loyalty.

11.  What quality do you most admire in a woman?

The ability to love without questioning.

12.  Which book that you’ve written is your favourite?

I don’t have a favourite.

13. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Use bum glue.

14. What are your favourite names?

Names are important to me. They are essential to the sense of a character. Ikey Solomon is my favourite.

15. What do you do as a hobby?

Gardening.

16. What are your top three books?

1. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.
2. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.
3. Bleak House by Charles Dickens.

17. Where do you get your greatest ideas for writing?

Voices in my head and then the dialogue flows.

Source for photograph: Penguin authors credit Tim Bauer

Interviewed by Amanda Patterson, 8 February 2006