Benjamin Law (writer)

Benjamin Law
Born 1982 (age 35)
Nambour, Queensland, Australia
Occupation Author, journalist
Nationality Australian
Period 2000s–present
Notable works The Family Law, Gaysia
Relatives Michelle Law (sister)
Website
benjamin-law.com

Benjamin Law is an Australian author and journalist. He is best known for his books The Family Law, a family memoir published in 2010,[1] and Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East, a journalistic exploration of LGBT life in Asia.[2]

Born in Nambour, Queensland[3] to immigrant parents from Hong Kong, he is currently based in Sydney.[4] He is openly gay.[5][6]

Career

The Family Law was a shortlisted nominee for Book of the Year at the 2011 Australian Book Industry Awards,[1] and was adapted by Matchbox Pictures into a six-part television series for the SBS network in 2016, which Law created and co-wrote with Marieke Hardy (Series 1) and Kirsty Fisher and Lawrence Leung (Series 2).[7] It won the Screen Producers Awards for Best Comedy (2016)[8] and was nominated for two AACTA Awards.[9]

At the 2012 Sydney Writers' Festival,[10] he presented on the topic of bullying, for a panel with Wendy Harmer and Paul Capsis.

In November 2015, he advocated for gay people in a public discussion hosted by Mildura Pride (a Mildura Rural City Council Initiative). The social inclusion initiative focused on making Mildura more welcoming for GLBTIQ communities.[11]

In April 2018, Law became an ambassador for the National Library of Australia.[12]

As a journalist, he has contributed to publications including Frankie, The Australian Financial Review, The Saturday Paper,[13] The Monthly (including a 2014 supplement on the Museum of Old and New Art), The Courier-Mail and its Qweekend supplement, Griffith Review, Fairfax Media's Good Weekend magazine, The Big Issue and Crikey.[1]

Controversy

On 12 September 2017, The Australian newspaper criticised Law's tweet of 30 August 2017, "Sometimes find myself wondering if I’d hate-fuck all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system".[14] The newspaper also highlighted Law's responding tweet to Rob Stott, "[sighs heavily, unzips pants]".[15] The article highlighted that both tweets were posted during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.[16][17] Law subsequently stated that Googling the term "hate-fucking" shows that it is "not a sexual assault", and that The Australian's report coincided with the release of Law's investigative Quarterly Essay which examined that newspaper's coverage of the Safe Schools program. Law later publicly thanked the newspaper for the free publicity.[18]

Bibliography

Books

  • The Family Law (2010, ISBN 9781863954785)
  • Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East (2012, ISBN 9781863955768)

Co-authored

  • Sh*t Asian mothers say, Collingwood, Vic. : Black Inc. (2014, ISBN 9781863956635)
  • Law School : sex and relationship advice from Benjamin Law and his mum Jenny Phang, Melbourne, Vic. Brow Books (2017, ISBN 9780994606853)

Contributed chapters

  • "Tourism", pp. 147–152, and "Towards manhood", pp. 195–203, in: Growing up Asian in Australia, Melbourne, Black Inc. (2008, ISBN 9781863951913)
  • In: Voracious: best new Australian food writing, edited by Paul McNally, Prahran, Vic. : Hardie Grant Books (2011, ISBN 9781742701202)
  • In: I'm not racist but ... forty years of the Racial Discrimination Act, by Tim Soutphommasane, Sydney, N.S.W. NewSouth Publishing (2015, ISBN 9781742242057)
  • In: The book that made me, edited by Judith Ridge, Newtown, NSW Walker Books Australia (2016, ISBN 9781922244888)
  • "Beijing", pp. [43]-49, in: Best Australian comedy writing, edited by Luke Ryan, Affirm Press, South Melbourne, Victoria (2016, ISBN 9781925475265)

Introductions

  • In: Me and Mr Booker, by Cory Taylor, Melbourne, Victoria : The Text Publishing Company (2017, ISBN 9781925498271)

Essays and reporting

  • Law, Benjamin (2017). Moral Panic 101 - Equality, Acceptance and the Safe Schools Scandal. Quarterly Essay. 67. Black Inc. ISBN 9781863959513.

Interviews

  • The women who shaped my life (August 2010). Cleo, pp. 100–102.
  • Morris, Linda (21 December 2012). Benjamin Law. The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 6.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Law unto himself: The Family Law author Benjamin Law". Meld, 27 March 2012.
  2. ↑ Robert Dessaix, "Queer and Loathing". The Monthly, September 2012.
  3. ↑ Benjamin Law. "Benjamin Law". Retrieved 2016-04-24.
  4. ↑ http://benjamin-law.com/
  5. ↑ "Over the rainbow". The Hindu, 20 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "Gay, lesbian or queer writing". The Book Show, 7 February 2011.
  7. ↑ "Benjamin Law Comedy in Production at Matchbox Pictures". Pedestrian Daily, 16 October 2013.
  8. ↑ http://tvtonight.com.au/2016/11/screen-producers-awards-2016-winners.html
  9. ↑ http://www.aacta.org/the-awards/television-awards.aspx
  10. ↑ Harmer, Wendy & Law, Benjamin & Capsis, Paul (2012), Bully for you, ABC1, Sydney, N.S.W.
  11. ↑ "Benjamin Law visits Mildura to challenge homophobia". ABC News. 2015-11-16. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  12. ↑ Doherty, Megan (2018-04-06). "Kaz Cooke, Benjamin Law among National Library's 50th anniversary ambassadors". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2018-04-08.
  13. ↑ "Benjamin Law" The Saturday Paper, 20 December 2014
  14. ↑ 🌈, Benjamin Law (2017-08-30). "Sometimes find myself wondering if I'd hate-fuck all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system". @mrbenjaminlaw. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  15. ↑ 🌈, Benjamin Law (2017-08-30). "[sighs heavily, unzips pants]". @mrbenjaminlaw. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
  16. ↑ "Gay rights activist slammed for lewd tweets". Sky News. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  17. ↑ "Coalition MPs lash out at 'vile' tweet by same-sex marriage advocate". News Ltd. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  18. ↑ Meade, Amanda (15 September 2017). "Benjamin Law thanks News Corp's 'unholy alliance' for free publicity". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2017.


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