H. A. Willis
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H.A. Willis, (born Howard Alan Willis on 15 November 1948), is an Australian essayist, novelist, critic and editor.


Early life

The son of a Lands Department inspector in
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
, Willis was born at Colac and grew up at
Apollo Bay Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town had a population of 1,790 at ...
,
Kyneton Kyneton ( ) is a town in the Macedon Ranges region of Victoria, Australia. The Calder Freeway bypasses Kyneton to the north and east. Kyneton is on Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country. The town has four main streets: ...
and Ballarat. He subsequently lived in Darwin and
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
, New Zealand (1970–80) and rural
Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...
before settling with his wife and two young sons in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
in late 1981. As a student at
La Trobe University La Trobe University is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its main campus is located in the suburb of Bundoora. The university was established in 1964, becoming the third university in the state of Victoria a ...
in the late 1960s, Willis was part of a group (which also included
Philippe Mora Philippe Mora (born 1949) is a French Australian film director. Early life and career Philippe Mora was born in Paris, France in 1949, and grew up at the centre of the Australian arts scene of the 1950s and began making films with an 8mm camera ...
, Peter Beilby, Rod Bishop and Demos Krouskos), that wrote and produced the first issue of ''
Cinema Papers ''Cinema Papers'' was an Australian bi-monthly film magazine which ran from 1974 to 2001. It absorbed ''Filmviews'' in 1989. History and profile ''Cinema Papers'' was first published as a nationally distributed magazine in January 1974. The name ...
'' (October 1967). While studying at the
University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
, Willis was a founding member of Alternative Cinema, an Auckland film-makers’ cooperative established in 1972. He contributed articles to and edited several early issues of that group’s journal, ''Alternative Cinema''. Willis later (1976) wrote an in-depth account of the New Zealand film industry for ''Cinema Papers''.


Career

Willis (under the credit "Alan Willis") produced a half-hour television documentary, ''Stanley'', filmed in October–November 1974 for 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 ...
. The film concerned the twelve-day manhunt (in October 1941) for mass killer Stanley Graham. Based on his interviews with participants in the manhunt, and his access to the previously closed police files, Willis wrote ''Manhunt'', the most detailed and definitive account of the event. The feature film '' Bad Blood'', based on his book, starred
Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports * Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City * Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...
and
Carol Burns Carol Ann Burns (29 October 1947 – 22 December 2015) was an Australian actress, theatre director and patron of the arts, with a career spanning 50 years. She worked extensively in theatre and television serials, as well as telemovies and min ...
. In 2012, Willis returned to
Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...
, where Graham is buried. His account of his trip to Westland and the Graham story was published in the "Travel" section of ''
The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, '' The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuous ...
''. Willis's 2012 visit to New Zealand also generated articles paying homage to the earthquake damaged city of
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
and the philosopher Karl Popper (a resident of Christchurch in 1937–45). After settling in Western Australia, Willis worked as an archival researcher, film script assessor (WA Film Council, 1991–93), book editor and reviewer. Between 1989 and 2006, he wrote about 250 reviews for ''The West Australian'', ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...
'' and ''
The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...
''. He also wrote a number of longer articles on subjects that included the closure of the old Metters Limited stove factory in Perth,
chronic pain Chronic pain is classified as pain that lasts longer than three to six months. In medicine, the distinction between acute and chronic pain is sometimes determined by the amount of time since onset. Two commonly used markers are pain that continue ...
, east European cultural and political history, cultural stereotyping, and environmental issues. In an essay on Colonial frontier violence he identified and reproduced the first known photograph (1865) taken in the Kimberley region. His essay on pain was selected as the Western Australian finalist for the MBF Health and Well Being awards for 1994. In 1994 he interviewed
Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles Fr ...
for Eureka Street; Winton later dedicated his novel ''
Breath Breathing (or ventilation) is the process of moving air into and from the lungs to facilitate gas exchange with the internal environment, mostly to flush out carbon dioxide and bring in oxygen. All aerobic creatures need oxygen for cell ...
'' (2008) to Willis. Willis has been involved in two aspects of the Australian "
History wars The history wars is a term used in Australia to describe the public debate about the interpretation of the history of the European colonisation of Australia and the development of contemporary Australian society, particularly with regard to th ...
". When
Keith Windschuttle Keith Windschuttle (born 1942) is an Australian historian and former board member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. He was editor of '' Quadrant'' from 2007 to 2015 when he became chair of the board and editor-in-chief. He was the pub ...
published ''The Fabrication of Aboriginal History, Volume One'' (2002), Willis undertook a detailed analysis of the author's cited sources to dispute his figure for Tasmanian Aborigines killed during hostilities in Van Diemen's Land. In relation to that debate,
Robert Manne Robert Michael Manne (born 31 October 1947) is an Emeritus Professor of politics and Vice-Chancellor's Fellow at La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. He is a leading Australian public intellectual. Background Robert Manne was born in Melbo ...
described Willis as “a conservative scholar ... known for his scrupulousness”. In 2010, he joined the debate over the introduction and
history of smallpox The history of smallpox extends into pre-history. Genetic evidence suggests that the smallpox virus emerged 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. Prior to that, similar ancestral viruses circulated, but possibly only in other mammals, and possibly with diffe ...
in Australia, arguing that the origin of the 1789 outbreak near Sydney was most likely from a Macassan introduction through Northern Australia. As a non-fiction editor, Willis prepared for publication (including the title) ''The Last of the Last'' (2009), the autobiography of
Claude Choules Claude Stanley Choules (; 3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011) was an English-born military serviceman from Pershore, Worcestershire, who at the time of his death was the oldest combat veteran of the First World War from England, having served wit ...
, the last combat veteran of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. At the time of publication Choules was 108, making him the world’s oldest first time author. Other titles edited by Willis include ''From Kastellorizo'' (2006), Michael (Stratos) Jack Kailis’s memoir of his extended family, and ''Nurses with Altitude'' (2008), a collection of stories by Western Australian nurses of the
Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an air medical service in Australia. It is a non-profit organisation that provides emergency and primary health care services for those living in rural, remote an ...
. Between 1982 and 1991 Willis published eleven short stories in various literary journals, including '' Overland'', ''Australian Short Stories'', ''Brave New Word'', Going Down Swinging'', ''
The Weekend Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatewat ...
'', and '' Island Magazine''. In 2010, Willis indexed and was one of the editorial annotators of ''The Australind Journals of
Marshall Waller Clifton Marshall Waller Clifton (1 November 1787 – 10 April 1861), commonly referred to as Waller Clifton, was an English civil servant, coloniser and politician in Western Australia. History Clifton was born 1 November 1787 at Alverstoke, near ...
1840-1861''. In 2011 he wrote the introductory essay to a reprinted edition of ''Thermo-Electrical Cooking Made Easy'', by Nora Curle-Smith, first published in Kalgoorlie in 1907, and claimed to be the world’s first cookbook for an
electric stove An electric stove or electric range is a stove with an integrated electrical heating device to cook and bake. Electric stoves became popular as replacements for solid-fuel (wood or coal) stoves which required more labor to operate and maintain. ...
. In 2006 Willis was diagnosed with hepatitis C, which he believes was contracted by either a blood transfusion or a catheter in a Perth hospital in the mid-1980s. After two unsuccessful attempts to treat the disease, he was cleared of the virus in 2019. He wrote about having what was, at the time, an incurable disease in his novel, ''What Comrade Oldie Knew'' (2021). A second novel, ''Playing with Mischief'', set in rural Victoria (Ballarat and Kyneton) in the early 1960s, was self-published at the end of July 2021.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, H. A. 1948 births Living people Writers from Perth, Western Australia Writers from Victoria (Australia) People from Colac, Victoria