User blog:Bittermedicine/A Little Bit About the Authors

 Clem Martini – Early and Adult life 

 Clem Martini is a play-writer who was born 25th August, 1956 in Calgary, but spent his growing years in Bowness. During those years, Martini enjoyed reading and doing outdoor activities and he also had great love for animals (Roe, 2012). He started writing short story fictions in his early years in high school and won a lot of writing competitions held in school like the Woolworths competition. He was motivated and encouraged by his teachers in school to continue writing the plays. Martini received his bachelors in Fine Arts in play-writing from the University of Calgary in 1980 and in 1980. He was the first person to graduate from the National Theatre School in Montreal in play-writing (Roe, 2012).

 Historical Context 

 After his graduation from university, he taught play-writing and drama at Wood’s home in Calgary which was a treatment home for the troubled youth. Martini taught in the treatment home for fifteen years during which he met a lot of people with different personalities and mostly those who had problems with their families and hand involved themselves in criminal activities (Roe, 2012). This gave him a lot of insight into the minds and characters of the people which he also used in his books. Martini’s book ‘Illegal Entry’ is based on three criminal teenagers who ran away from their treatment home and break into another house to steal valuables, but instead they get locked in the garage of the house and are forced to encounter their intentions (Roe, 2012). Martini had also spent his growing years with his relatives who were schizophrenic and decided to write about people who lose their sense of self.

 Work and Awards 

               His characters offer different perspectives which not only include humans but also animals. His books ‘The life history of the African elephant’ which was inspired from an interview taken on radio of an elephant trainer, is a story about the elephant keeper who committed his life to look after his animal. ‘Secret life of the Octopus’ is the story about a depressed octopus in which the main character of the book becomes his friend (Roe, 2012). Martini had been nominated for the ‘Governor General’s Literary Award’ for his book ‘A three Martini Lunch.’ Apart from that, he has also won the National Play-writing Competition and three ‘Alberta Wright Guild’ (Roe, 2012).

 Olivier Martini- Early and Adult Life 

 Olivier Martini came to know about him suffering from schizophrenia in 1986. This happened ten years after his brother’s diagnosis of the same disease. From his early age, Olivier had to live under bad conditions of illness, which roamed in his family. It was his bad luck, due to which he had to suffer a lot from his childhood. The lack of resources and health care system made it even more difficult to cope with the illness that was evolving in his family.

 Historical Context 

 To cope with all the problems that surrounded him, Olivier spent most of his time in drawing. His paintings and sketches represent his feelings and his experience about the illness that he had lived among. Olivier studies in Alberta College of Arts and is currently working in Calgary. His paintings and sketches have been displayed in many exhibitions at Marion McGrath Gallery and have been published in magazines like Alberta Views (Admin, 2013).

 Works and Awards 

               Bitter Medicine is a famous book by Olivier and Clem Martini. In fact, most of Olivier's fame rotates around this famous memoir. In it, Olivier’s emotional and heart breaking graphic narrative touches reader’s hearts. Anybody who reads the content feels the pain behind it. It is accompanied with a written account made by his brother Clem Martini. Because of both brothers’ creativity and talent a family memoir attached to this mental sickness was formed. Even though it is not a fiction story but it is known to be a favorite reading of many people. All this fame is due to hard works of the two brothers.

-Stephanie Ajiroba