Noel Tovey’s previous memoir, Little Black Bastard ( Hodder Headline Australia 2004, shortlisted Victorian Premier’s Prize for Indigenous Writing, Australian Human Rights Award) chronicled his extraordinary life – from a childhood lived in poverty, through to his international stage career, return to Australia and eventual reconciliation with his past.
In this uplifting new work, Tovey crafts a tale that reveals a creative and sensitive spirit. And Then I Found Me is the triumphant story of his stellar career in London as an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer, director and curator. For more than 30 years, his stage productions reached audiences across Europe, South Africa and Australia. Martin Luther King’s assassination, the dismantling of apartheid, the criminalisation of homosexuality and the rise of AIDS create a backdrop to this bold recollection of glamour and politics. As a trailblazer for Indigenous people and an advocate for underpriviledged artists, Tovey’s new memoir is both moving and timely.