Ivan Thomas Bootham (20 July 1939 – 14 July 2016) was a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, poet and composer.

Biography

Bootham was born in

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England, on 20 July 1939, the son of the painter Joe Bootham, and migrated to New Zealand as a teenager. He lived in provincial New Zealand –

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

, Levin,

Lower Hutt Lower Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Tai) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand. Administered by the Hutt City Council, it is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. It is New Zealand's sixth most p ...

– before settling in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. He worked as a book binding apprentice, farm labourer, shoe salesman, ticket writer/window dresser, radio copywriter, radio programme producer, publicity officer for the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

, and in clerical, advisory, administrative and editorial jobs for various Government departments. Bootham became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in 1975. He was married with twin daughters, and died in Wellington on 14 July 2016. He was buried at

Makara ''Makara'' ( sa, मकर, translit=Makara) is a legendary sea-creature in Hindu mythology. In Hindu astrology, Makara is equivalent to the Zodiac sign Capricorn. Makara appears as the vahana (vehicle) of the river goddess Ganga, Narmada, a ...

Cemetery.

Literary works

Bootham's early novels and short stories attracted favourable reviews, and in 1973 he was awarded a New Zealand Literary Fund Writing Bursary. His 1999 short story collection ''Ivan Bootham Stories'', from Fracas Publications, includes the story "A Change Is As Good As A Rest", which was short-listed for the 1989 Mobil/''Dominion Sunday Times'' short story contest judged by

Malcolm Bradbury Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic. Life Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 with ...

. His radio plays include ''Mutuwhenua'', an imaginatively dramatised treatment of the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption. His other pieces for radio include ''Bus Ominibus and But For'', performed by Alan Jervis and

Pat Evison Dame Helen June Patricia Evison (née Blamires; 2 June 1924 – 30 May 2010), known professionally as Pat Evison, was a New Zealand-born actress. Early life and education Evison was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 2 June 1924, the daughter of ...

and broadcast on the YC Station of the

NZBC The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

. Bootham's most recent works include three

novellas A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

published as ''Quince.Noon – the Trilogy'' (2001); a short story collection ''The Book of Cheerful Despair'' (2002); and a novel ''The Doctor Jesus Sanatorium'' (2003). A

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

in much of his fiction is that of the artist struggling to come to terms with the gap between his creative aspirations and his achievements. Bootham has been praised as a highly original comic writer. His tone ranges from the ironic to the acerbic, his constantly self-questioning characters often relishing wordplay and verbal invention. He has also had

art criticism Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation but it is quest ...

and

cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

published, including a book of musical cartoons, ''sff''. Bootham was a long-term friend of New Zealand's leading art dealer

Peter McLeavey Peter Joseph John McLeavey (21 September 1936 – 12 November 2015) was a New Zealand art dealer and advocate based in Wellington. Early life Born in Raetihi on 21 September 1936, McLeavey was the son of Leslie Francis McLeavey and Elizabeth Th ...

, and some of his reminiscences of their friendship are recorded in Jill Trevelyan's biography of McLeavey.

Musical composition

An accomplished pianist and former keen trumpet player, Ivan Bootham began composing in his early teens. His music teachers included

Maxwell Fernie Arnott Maxwell Fernie (25 April 191022 May 1999) was a New Zealand organist, teacher and conductor. He was an authority on Gregorian chant, sixteenth century polyphony, organ construction and tonal design. Life Fernie was born in Wellington on ...

and Loretto Cunninghame. His best-known work to date is the opera ''The Death of Venus'', based on his

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

of that name, which premiered in Wellington in 2002. The story is based on an historical incident in 1806, in which the

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

Venus was seized at Port Dalrymple (

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) by its

first mate A chief mate (C/M) or chief officer, usually also synonymous with the first mate or first officer, is a licensed mariner and head of the deck department of a merchant ship. The chief mate is customarily a watchstander and is in charge of the ship ...

Kelly, aided by

convicts A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

, and sailed to the

Bay of Islands The Bay of Islands is an area on the east coast of the Far North District of the North Island of New Zealand. It is one of the most popular fishing, sailing and tourist destinations in the country, and has been renowned internationally for its ...

in New Zealand. Two of the female convicts on board are believed to have been the first white women to live in New Zealand. In 2002, Bootham completed his second opera ''Pictures'', based on the short story of that name by New Zealand writer

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...

. His most recent major compositions were the mass ''Missa Creator Spiritus'' (2006) and the monodrama ''Bessie Blue'' (2009). Among his compositions are: ''Three Musics'' (1965) for

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

and

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

; ''Sonata Movement'' (1969) for piano; ''Winter Garden'' (1988) for

wind quintet A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon). Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...

; ''A String of Clichés'' (1996) for

and piano; ''Zuweilen'' (2000), six short pieces for piano;'' Three Lejjoon Poems'' (2000), a short

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

to poems by

Niel Wright Niel Wright (Frank William Nielsen Wright born 30 September 1933) is a New Zealand poet, literary critic, bibliographer, publisher, and cultural and political commentator. His major piece of work is his epic poem ''The Alexandrians'', self publis ...

; ''Little Blue Peep'' (2002) for harmonica and piano; ''A Wild Garden of Doggerel'' (2003), settings of nonsense poems by the composer for unaccompanied

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

; Play ''On A Debussy Motif'' (2004) for piano; ''Spinning Jenny'' (2005) for piano duet, and a song cycle ''For One Who Went Away'' (2004), a setting of seven poems by

Peter Jacobson Peter Jacobson (born March 24, 1965) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Dr. Chris Taub on the Fox medical drama series ''House''. He also starred on the USA Network science fiction drama ''Colony'' as former Proxy Snyde ...

Public performances

On 6 October 1973, Ivan Bootham performed an assemblage of words and piano music by

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth. The performance grew out of a short item he wrote for radio ''Five Grimaces: Erik Satie Looks at Life'', which was first broadcast by the NZBC in June 1971 and repeated in August 1971 In August 2009, he provided piano accompaniment for a compilation of early films of Wellington shown at the Ngaio Town Hall, Wellington. Titled A Snapshot of Wellington 1917–1966, the programme was presented by the

New Zealand Film Archive The New Zealand Film Archive was established in 1981. On 1 August 2014 the archive was amalgamated with Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero and the Television New Zealand Archive to form Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision. 2009 lost film recovery In earl ...

and the Ngaio Community Association."A Snapshot of Wellington 1917–1966", The Film Archive, 16 August 2009 Since 2013 in particular, many video productions of Ivan Bootham's poetry and music have been posted on YouTube.

References

External links