Fremantle Press author named State Living Treasure

Perth-born musician and Before It Breaks author Dave Warner has been named a Western Australian State Living Treasure.

In the 1970s and 1980s Warner rose to fame with his band, Dave Warner’s From the Suburbs, playing with the likes of Men At Work, Midnight Oil and INXS. Warner made the switch from writing music to books in the 1990s. His debut novel, City Of Light, was published in 1995 and won a Western Australian Premier’s Book Award.

Warner said he was surprised and honoured to be a State Living Treasure.

‘It’s not exactly a thing a former pub rocker who trashed mike stands and gobbed on the ceiling expects from the government,’ he said.

‘I am very tickled, especially because the heart of my work was always to create something unique and artistic from Western Australian suburban life.’

Warner also acknowledged the role his collaborators and supporters have had in his past successes.

‘I’m very grateful to all my musician colleagues who collaborated with me, editors who made my books better, and fans who’ve given me the pleasure of their company over the years,’ he said.

‘I’m thrilled to be placed in the league of my fellow treasures, past and present.’

Warner’s latest book, Before It Breaks, was launched on 30 May by Geoff Hutchison of 720 ABC Perth.