Thomas Keneally
Thomas Keneally AO | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas Michael Keneally 7 October 1935 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Occupation | Novelist |
Notable awards | Booker Prize |
Spouse | Judy Martin (m. 1965) |
Children | 2 |
Thomas Michael Keneally,
Early life
Both Keneally's parents (Edmund Thomas Keneally and Elsie Margaret Coyle) were born to
Keneally then entered
Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use his real first name.[2]
Career
Keneally's first story was published in The Bulletin magazine in 1962 under the pseudonym Bernard Coyle.[3] By February 2014, he had written over 50 books, including 30 novels.[4] He is particularly famed for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List. He had already been shortlisted for the Booker three times prior to that: 1972 for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, 1975 for Gossip from the Forest, and 1979 for Confederates.[5]
Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.
Premièred at London's Royal Court Theatre, the play Our Country's Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker is based on Keneally's book The Playmaker. In it, convicts deported from Britain to the Empire's penal colony of Australia perform George Farquhar's Restoration comedy The Recruiting Officer set in the English town of Shrewsbury. Artistic Director Max Stafford-Clark wrote about his experiences of staging the plays in repertoire in his book Letters to George.
Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in Fred Schepisi's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) (based on his own novel) and played Father Marshall in the award-winning film The Devil's Playground (1976), also by Schepisi.[6]
Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of the
Keneally was a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) where he taught the graduate fiction workshop for one quarter in 1985. From 1991 to 1995, he was a visiting professor in the writing program at UCI.[7]
In 2006, Peter Pierce, Professor of Australian Literature, James Cook University, wrote:[3]
Keneally can sometimes seem the nearest that we have to a Balzac of our literature; he is in his own rich and idiosyncratic ways the author of an Australian 'human comedy'.
The Tom Keneally Centre opened in August 2011 at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, housing Keneally's books and memorabilia. The site is used for book launches, readings and writing classes.[8]
Keneally is an ambassador of the
Personal life
Keneally married Judy Martin, then a nurse, in 1965, and they had two daughters, Margaret and Jane.[10][3]
Keneally was the founding chairman (1991–93) of the
In March 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's biography Lincoln to President Barack Obama as a state gift.[14]
Keneally's nephew Ben is married to the former senior Australian Labor Party Senator, Kristina Keneally. She is also a former Premier of New South Wales and Sky News Australia newscaster.
Schindler's Ark
Keneally wrote the
Some of the Pfefferberg documents that inspired Keneally are now housed in the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.[16] In 1996 the State Library purchased this material from a private collector.[17]
Honours
In 1983, he was made an Officer of the
In 2010 the Australian postal service issued a stamp in his honour.[20]
Keneally has been awarded honorary doctorates including one from the National University of Ireland.[5]
Awards | |
---|---|
Booker Prize | The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, shortlisted 1972 |
Gossip from the Forest, shortlisted 1975 | |
Confederates, shortlisted 1979 | |
Schindler's Ark, winner 1982 | |
Miles Franklin Award | Bring Larks and Heroes, winner 1967 |
Three Cheers for the Paraclete, winner 1968 | |
An Angel in Australia, shortlisted 2003 | |
The Widow and Her Hero, longlisted 2008 | |
Prime Minister's Literary Awards | The Widow and Her Hero, shortlisted 2008 |
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Special Award, winner 2008 |
Helmerich Award | Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, 2007 |
ARA Historical Novel Prize | Corporal Hitler's pistol, winner 2022[21] |
Bibliography
Novels
- The Place at Whitton. 1964.
- The Fear. 1965.[a]
- Bring Larks and Heroes (1967), winner of the Miles Franklin Award, set in an unidentified British penal colony
- Three Cheers for the Paraclete (1968), winner of the Miles Franklin Award, comic novel of a doubting priest
- The Survivor (1969), a survivor looks back on a disastrous Antarctic expedition
- A Dutiful Daughter (1971), Keneally's personal favourite
- The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1972), also filmed. Written through the eyes of an exploited Aboriginal man who explodes in rage. Based on an actual incident. Keneally has said he would not now presume to write in the voice of an Aboriginal person, but would have written the story as seen by a white character.
- Blood Red, Sister Rose (1974), a novel based loosely on the life of Joan of Arc
- Moses the Lawgiver (1975)
- Gossip from the Forest (1975), tells of the negotiation of the armistice that ended World War I
- Season in Purgatory (1976), love among Tito's partisans in World War II
- A Victim of the Aurora (1977), a detective story set on an Antarctic expedition
- Ned Kelly and the City of the Bees (1978), a book for children
- Passenger (1979)
- Confederates (1979), based on Stonewall Jackson's army
- The Cut-Rate Kingdom (1980), Australia at war in 1942
- Schindler's Ark (1982), winner of the Booker Prize, later released and filmed as Schindler's List
- A Family Madness (1985)
- The Playmaker (1987), prisoners perform a play in Australia in the 18th Century
- Act of Grace (1985), (under the pseudonym William Coyle) Published as Firestorm in the US
- By the Line (1989)[b]
- Towards Asmara (1989), the conflict in Eritrea
- Flying Hero Class (1991), Palestinians hijack an aeroplane carrying an Aboriginal folk dance troupe
- Chief of Staff (1991), (under the pseudonym William Coyle)
- Woman of the Inner Sea (1992), Keneally retells a story once told him by a young woman that haunted his imagination
- Jacko: The Great Intruder (1993), madness and television
- A River Town (1995)
- Bettany's Book (2000)
- An Angel in Australia (2000), also published as Office of Innocence
- The Tyrant's Novel (2003), an Australian immigration detainee tells his story
- The Widow and Her Hero (2007), the effect of war on those left behind
- The People's Train (2009), a dissident escapes from Russia to Australia in 1911, only to return to fight in the revolution
- The Daughters of Mars (2012), two Australian sisters struggle to nurse soldiers horrifically wounded in World War I
- Shame and the Captives (2014), ISBN 147673464X, recounts the escape of Japanese prisoners of war in New South Wales during WWII
- Napoleon's Last Island (2015)
- Crimes of the Father (2016)
- Two Old Men Dying (2018)
- The Book of Science and Antiquities (2019)
- The Dickens Boy (2020)
- Keneally, Thomas (2021). Corporal Hitler's pistol. Australia. OCLC 1257067130.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Winner of the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize.[c][d] - Keneally, Tom (1 November 2022). Fanatic Heart. Milsons Point, NSW: Vintage Australia.
- The Monsarrat series, co-authored with Meg Keneally
- The Soldier’s Curse (2016)
- The Unmourned (2017)
- The Power Game (2018)
- The Ink Stain (2019)
Non-fiction
- Outback (1983)
- Australia: Beyond the Dreamtime (1987)
- The Place Where Souls are Born: A Journey to the Southwest (1992)
- Now and in Time to Be: Ireland and the Irish (1992)
- Memoirs from a Young Republic (1993)
- The Utility Player: The Des Hasler Story (1993) Rugby league footballer Des Hasler
- Our Republic (1995)
- Homebush Boy: A Memoir (1995), autobiography
- The Great Shame (1998)
- "My father's Australia". Granta. 70: 331–349. Summer 2000.
- American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles (2002), biography of Daniel Sickles
- Lincoln (2003), biography of Abraham Lincoln
- The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Story of the Founding of Australia(2005)
- Searching for Schindler: A Memoir (2007)
- Australians: Origins to Eureka (2009)
- Three Famines: Starvation and Politics (2011)
- Australians: Eureka to the Diggers (2011)
- Australians: Flappers to Vietnam (2014)
- "Gutenberg fights on : a survival story". The National Library of Australia Magazine. 7 (1): 28–30. March 2015.[g]
- Australians: A Short History (2016)
- A Bloody Good Rant: My Passions, Memories and Demons (2022)
Plays
- Halloran's Little Boat (1968)
- Childermas (1968)
- An Awful Rose (1972)
- Bullie's House (1981)
- Either Or (2007)[h]
Screenplays
- The Survivor (1972)[i]
- Silver City (1984)[j]
- The Fremantle Conspiracy (1988)[k]
———————
- Notes
- ^ Rewritten in 1989 as By the line
- ^ Revised version of The Fear (1965).
- ^ "Celebrated author reveals why he is sharing $50,000 his prize money". ABC News. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ Reviews:
- Wyndham, Susan (23 September 2021). "Corporal Hitler's Pistol by Tom Keneally review – a rollicking historical crime thriller". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- Ley, James (15 October 2021). "A shot in the direction of war, history and soap opera". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ Interview: "Fanatic Heart by Tom Keneally". ABC Radio. 25 November 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ Reviews:
- Fraser, Morag (13 January 2023). "Tom Keneally's sparkling new novel is a book for our times". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- Sharrad, Paul (December 2022). "In Fanatic Heart, Tom Keneally revisits the tumultuous life of an Irish rebel". The Conversation. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- McDonald, Ronan (27 December 2022). "Ronan McDonald reviews 'Fanatic Heart' by Tom Keneally". Australian Book Review. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- Mayer, Erich (7 November 2022). "Book review: Fanatic Heart, Tom Keneally". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- "At 87, Thomas Keneally isn't done with history yet". Australian Financial Review. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- ^ The fifth Ray Mathew Lecture, National Library of Australia, 4 September 2014.
- ^ "Daunting, haunting task for an author with a story to tell". theage.com.au. 3 May 2007.
- ^ "The Survivor". IMDB.
- ^ "Silver City". IMDB.
- ^ "The Fremantle Conspiracy". IMDB.
Notes
- ^ "Thomas Keneally". Britannica. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "Tom Keneally". Talking Heads. ABC. 30 July 2007. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f Peter Pierce, ed. (2006). "Thomas Keneally, A Celebration" (PDF). Canberra, Australia: Friends of the National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ Marks, Kathy (17 February 2014). "Thomas Keneally: 'I hope no one says Australia was born at Gallipoli'". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Ltd. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ a b c "Q&A Panellist Tom Keneally". ABC. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ "Interview – Thomas Keneally". januarymagazine.com.
- ^ McClellan, Dennis (26 September 1994). "Keneally to Leave UCI for Home". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "A library he calls his own". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
- ^ "Our ambassadors". asylumseekerscentre.org.au. Asylum Seekers Centre. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- The Weekend Australian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ISBN 1-86403-361-4.
- ^ Tom Brock Lecture Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine at the Australian Society for Sports History's website
- ^ FitzSimons, Peter (20 October 2007). "The Fitz Files". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
- ^ "Obama lauds Rudd in 'meeting of the minds'". The Age. 25 March 2009.
- ^ Walton, James (7 October 2015). "Thomas Keneally: I wanted to be recognised by the Poms". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
- ^ "Schindler's List found in Sydney". BBC News. 6 April 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
- ^ http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/04/08/index.php?section=espectaculos&article=a09n2esp (In Spanish)
- ^ "It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours". itsanhonour.gov.au.
- ^ Keneally, Thomas. "Opinion: Hollow, cloying veneration greeted the Queen’s death. Now history calls on us to get an Australian head of state" The Guardian 13 September 2022
- ^ Flood, Alison (21 January 2010). "Australian writers honoured by stamps". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ "Celebrated author reveals why he is sharing $50,000 his prize money". ABC News. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
References
Further reading
- Sharrad, Paul (March 2015). "Just the ticket! The Thomas Keneally Papers" (PDF). The National Library of Australia Magazine. 7 (1): 8–11. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
External links
- Tom Keneally at Random House Australia
- Life and Works of Thomas Keneally
- Tom Keneally Centre
- "Irish Escape". Secrets of the Dead. 4 June 2008. PBS. Thirteen.
- Australian Republic Movement web site. Search for "Keneally".
- Ross Sea Reprise Thomas Keneally recalls his voyages to Antarctica
- 1983, 1989, 1991, 1993 RealAudio interviews with Thomas Keneally at Wired for Books.org by Don Swaim
- Radio interview with Michael Silverblatt
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Thomas Keneally at IMDb