Morris Lurie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Morris Lurie
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| Born | Moses Lurie 30 October 1938 Carlton, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 8 October 2014 (aged 75) Wantirna, Victoria, Australia |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Alma mater | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| Period | 1966–2014 |
| Notable awards | Patrick White Award (2006) |
| Spouse | Helen Taylor |
Moses "Morris" Lurie (born October 30, 1938 – died October 8, 2014) was a famous Australian writer. He wrote many different kinds of books. These included funny novels, short stories, essays, plays, and even books for children. His stories often featured funny adventures. They were usually about Australian men who loved jazz music.
Contents
About Morris Lurie
Morris Lurie was born Moses Lurie in 1938. His parents, Arie and Esther Lurie, were Jewish immigrants from Poland. He was born in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. He was named after an uncle who had passed away in Poland.
Morris went to several schools, including Elwood Central School and Melbourne High School. Later, he studied architecture at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked in advertising.
His First Books
Morris Lurie's first novel was a funny book called Rappaport, published in 1966. It was about a young antique dealer in Melbourne and his friend. He wrote a follow-up book, Rappaport's Revenge, in 1973. In this book, the characters moved to London.
Morris spent time living outside Australia. He lived in Europe, the UK, and Northern Africa. These travels gave him many ideas for his stories. His second novel was The London Jungle Adventures of Charlie Hope (1968).
Famous Works
One of his well-known novels was Flying Home (1978). The National Book Council named it one of the ten best Australian books of that decade. He also wrote Seven Books for Grossman (1983), which was a short novel. Another book, Madness (1991), was about a writer dealing with a girlfriend who had mental health challenges.
Morris Lurie was especially famous for his short stories. In 2000, he wrote a guide called When and How to Write Short Stories and What They Are. His stories appeared in many important magazines. These included The New Yorker, Punch, and The Times.
Morris Lurie passed away from cancer on October 8, 2014. He was at the Wantirna Hospice.
Awards and Recognitions
Morris Lurie received many awards for his writing. Here are some of them:
- 1973 – He won the FAW State of Victoria Short Story Award for 'Skylight in Lausanne'.
- 1978 – His novel Flying Home was highly praised by the National Book Council.
- 1983 – His children's book Toby's Millions was commended by the Children's Book Council of Australia.
- 1985 – He shared second place for the National Book Council Award for The Night We Ate the Sparrow.
- 1986 – He won the first Young Australian's Best Book Award for 'The 27th Annual Hippopotamus Race'.
- 1988 – He came second in the NBC Banjo Awards for his autobiography Whole Life.
- 1991 – He won the KOALA award for Primary Readers for 'The Twenty-Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race'.
- 1994 – He was a runner-up in the Island-North Essay Competition for 'The Fat Kid's Revenge'.
- 1994 – He won the Ulitarra-Sheaffer Pen Short Story Competition for 'Towards a New Definition of Radical Feminism'.
- 2006 – He received the Patrick White Award. This award celebrates a writer's lifetime achievements in literature.
Morris Lurie's Books
Here is a list of some of the books Morris Lurie wrote:
Novels and Short Story Collections
- Rappaport (1966)
- The London Jungle Adventures of Charlie Hope (1968)
- Happy Times (1969)
- Rappaport's Revenge (1973)
- Home is (1974)
- Inside the Wardrobe (1975)
- Flying Home (1978)
- Running Nicely (1979)
- Dirty Friends (1981)
- Seven Books for Grossman (1983)
- Outrageous Behaviour (a collection of his best stories, 1984)
- The Night We Ate the Sparrow (1985)
- Two Brothers, Running (1990)
- Madness (1991)
- The String (1995)
- Welcome to Tangier (1997)
- The Secret Strength of Children (2001)
- Seventeen Versions of Jewishness: Twenty Examples (2001)
- To Light Attained (2008)
- Hergesheimer Hangs In (2011)
- Hergesheimer in the Present Tense (2014)
- My Greatest Ambition (1984)
Essays and Journalism
- The English in Heat (1972)
- Hack Work (1977)
- Public Secrets (1981)
- Snow Jobs (1985)
- My Life as a Movie (1988)
Morris Lurie also wrote a collection of plays called Waterman (1979). His autobiography was titled Whole Life (1987). He wrote several children's books too. One very popular one was Twenty-Seventh Annual African Hippopotamus Race (1969). Schoolchildren in Victoria, Australia, voted it their favorite storybook by an Australian author.
