In 2008, the artist Adam Cullen invited journalist Erik Jensen to stay in his spare room and write his biography.

What followed were four years of intense honesty and a relationship that became increasingly claustrophobic. At one point Cullen shot Jensen, in part to see how committed he was to the book. At another, he threw Jensen from a speeding motorbike. The book contract Cullen used to convince Jensen to stay with him never existed.

Acute Misfortune is a riveting account of the life and death of one of Australia’s most celebrated artists, the man behind the Archibald Prize-winning portrait of David Wenham. Jensen follows Cullen through drug deals and periods of deep self-reflection, onwards into his court appearance for weapons possession and finally his death in 2012 at the age of forty-six.

After much critical acclaim, Acute Misfortune was developed into a full-length feature film, receiving The Age Critics Award for best Australian feature at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2018.

The story is by turns tender and horrifying- a spare tale of art, sex, drugs and childhood, told at close quarters and without judgement.

Awards for Acute Misfortune

• Winner, 2015 Nib Waverley Library Award for Literature
• Shortlisted, 2015 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards
• Shortlisted, 2015 Walkley Book Award