Jon Doust

Summary

Jon was born in Bridgetown WA and now lives in Kincannup/Kinjarling/Albany.
All his life he has driven, not just cars and tractors, but also projects, including the Manjimup Cherry Harmony Festival; Laugh Resort Inc - an association of stand-up comedians and owners of one of Australia’s longest running comedy rooms; and was a foundation member of the Wilderness Society in WA.
He has presented at two World Humour Conferences (Sydney, Australia and Osaka, Japan) to academic researchers and at conferences devoted to Jungian psychological types.
He has also been in film and on TV: a scientist in Itch (ABC TV), a priest in feature film Needle (with Travis Fimmel), a hard-core AC/DC fan in Thunderstruck, a badly beaten and dead dero in Justice (court-room drama); a mad environmental polluter in Bush Patrol; and a one-armed gambler in The Edge of the World (documentary about life and work of Tim Winton); and a scientist in Itch (BBC ABC production).

Biography

Jon Doust’s first adult novel, Boy on a Wire (Fremantle Press 2009), was long-listed for the 2010 Miles Franklin. His second, To the Highlands, was released in 2012 to critical acclaim. The third, Return Ticket, came out in 2020, right as Covid hit.

He co-wrote three children’s books (with Ken Spillman). All now available on kindle with illustrations by James Foley. He has had short stories published in anthologies, including Kid on the Karaoke Stage (Fremantle Press), Australia’s Game (Slattery Media Group) and White Knuckle Ride (Fremantle Press 2015).

When Jon was much younger, funkier, and taller, he was invited to a number of festivals to talk about his work: Byron Bay, Brisbane, Sydney, Ubud, Kimberley, Margaret River, even Perth and Big Sky in Geraldton.

He has a BA English (Curtin), a member of the Australian Society of Authors, the Australian Association for Psychological Type, the Jungian Society, a member of the International Society for Humour Studies and MEAA (Actors Equity section).