Bartlett looks back with new book

JOHN Bartlett had written 12 books spanning fiction, non-fiction and poetry but never considered examining his own story until now.

The Bellbrae resident and author has just released Love and its Penalties, a memoir of a life shaped by faith, desire, exile and belonging – from Catholic seminary training to political upheaval in the Philippines, to coming out as gay during the height of the AIDS crisis to a lifetime devoted to writing.

Bartlett grew up in country South Australia and entered a Catholic seminary in Sydney as a teenager, spending seven years training in philosophy and theology for the priesthood before being sent to Mindanao in the southern Philippines, where he witnessed the turmoil of the Marcos martial law years and the violence of ongoing conflict.

In 1980, he left the priesthood and returned to Australia, settling in Melbourne where he came out as gay at a time when AIDS was devastating communities worldwide.

Bartlett said most of his published work in recent years had been poetry, and his 13th book being a memoir “came about a bit accidentally”.

 

“I have a friend in Adelaide who’s been pestering me for years,” he said.

“She kept saying ‘You know, you should write your memoir, you should write your memoir’ and I just kept saying ‘Look, my life hasn’t been all that interesting’.

“She kept pestering me and pestering me, so in 2024 I thought ‘Oh, maybe I’ll have a bit of a go at writing it down’.

“Once I started writing, I actually quite enjoyed the process of just doing that as a way of looking back, I guess, looking at changes to myself and the changes in the world, particularly during my lifetime.”

Publisher Walleah Press describes the memoir as “a meditation on memory and longing, and on what it means to love ‘too easily and too often’ while still insisting on honesty and tenderness”.

Now the book is out in the world, Bartlett said he felt both satisfied and exposed.

“I’ve tried to be as honest as I can,” he said.

“I’m just wondering how people are going to take that, because a lot of people that know me probably don’t know some of the details of my life.”

“We can be very judgmental about our lives. I’ll see if I’ve still got friends afterwards.”

He is also realistic about the book’s reach.

“It’s probably not going to be a bestseller, but we’ll see what happens.”

Love and its Penalties is on sale now at Torquay Books and online at walleahpress.com.au

Bartlett will discuss the memoir in conversation with fellow author Gregory Day at Biyal-a Armstrong Creek Library on 17 May from 2.30-3.30pm. The event is full but to join the waitlist, head to events.grlc.vic.gov.au/events