Thomas Keneally
Thomas Keneally | |
---|---|
Keneally at the premiere of the film Brave at the Sydney Film Festival on 11 June 2012 | |
Born | Thomas Michael Keneally (1935-10-07) 7 October 1935 Sydney, Australia |
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | Australian |
Genre | Novels |
Notable awards | Booker Prize |
Spouse | Judy Martin (m. 1965) |
Children | 2 |
Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is a prolific[1] Australian novelist, playwright, and essayist. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982 which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Schindler's Ark
5 Honours
6 Bibliography
6.1 Novels
6.2 The Monsarrat series, co-authored with Meg Keneally
6.3 Non-fiction
6.4 Drama
7 Notes
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
Early life
Both Keneally's parents (Edmund Thomas Keneally and Elsie Margaret Coyle) were born to Irish fathers in the timber and dairy town of Kempsey, New South Wales, and, though born in Sydney, his early years were also spent there.[2] By 1942, the family had moved to 7 Loftus Crescent, Homebush, a working-class suburb in the west of Sydney and Keneally was enrolled at Christian Brothers St Patrick's College, Strathfield. Shortly after, his brother John was born. Keneally studied Honours English for his Leaving Certificate in 1952, under Brother James Athanasius McGlade, and won a Commonwealth scholarship.[3]
Keneally then entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly, to train as a Catholic priest. Although he was ordained as a deacon while at the seminary, after six years there he left in a state of depression and without being ordained to the priesthood. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist and was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70).[3]
His father, Edmund Thomas Keneally, flew for the RAAF in World War II, then returned to work in a small business in Sydney.
Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name.[2]
Career
Kenneally'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.
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]
In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).[7] He is an Australian Living Treasure.
Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council from 1985 to 1988 and President of the National Book Council from 1985 to 1989.[3]
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.[8]
In 2006, Peter Pierce, Professor of Australian Literature, James Cook University, wrote:[3]
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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.[9]
Personal life
Keneally married Judy Martin, then a nurse, in 1965, and they had two daughters, Margaret and Janet.[10][3]
Keneally was the founding chairman (1991–93) of the Australian Republic Movement[5] and published a book on the subject Our Republic in 1993. Several of his Republican essays appear on the website of the movement. He is also a keen supporter of rugby league football,[11] in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL. In 2004, he gave the sixth annual Tom Brock Lecture.[12] He made an appearance in the 2007 rugby league drama film The Final Winter.[13]
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 former Premier of New South Wales and Sky News Australia newscaster Kristina Keneally.[15]
Schindler's Ark
Keneally wrote the Booker Prize-winning novel in 1982, inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. In 1980, Keneally met Pfefferberg in the latter's shop, and learning that he was a novelist, Pfefferburg showed him his extensive files on Oskar Schindler, including the original list itself.[16] Keneally was interested, and Pfefferberg became an advisor for the book, accompanying Keneally to Poland where they visited Kraków and the sites associated with the Schindler story. Keneally dedicated Schindler's Ark to Pfefferberg: "who by zeal and persistence caused this book to be written." He said in an interview in 2007 that what attracted him to Oskar Schindler was that "it was the fact that you couldn't say where opportunism ended and altruism began. And I like the subversive fact that the spirit breatheth where it will. That is, that good will emerge from the most unlikely places".[2] The book was later made into a film titled Schindler's List (1993) directed by Steven Spielberg, earning the director his first Best Director Oscar. Keneally's meeting with Pfefferberg and their research tours are detailed in Searching for Schindler: A Memoir (2007).
Some of the Pfefferberg documents that inspired Keneally are now housed in the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.[17] In 1996 the State Library purchased this material from a private collector.[18]
Honours
Keneally has been awarded honorary doctorates including one from the National University of Ireland.[5]
Awards | |
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Man 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 |
Bibliography
Novels
The Place at Whitton (1964)
The Fear (1965), rewritten in (1989) as By the Line
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 Aborigine who explodes in rage. Based on an actual incident. Keneally has said he would not now presume to write in the voice of an Aborigine, 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
Ned Kelly and the City of the Bees (1978), a book for children
A Victim of the Aurora (1978), a detective story set on an Antarctic expedition
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), working-class families face World War II in Sydney
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 (1993), 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), .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
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 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)
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)
Australians: A Short History (2016)
Drama
Halloran's Little Boat (1968)
Childermas (1968)
An Awful Rose (1972)
Bullie's House (1981)
Either Or (2007)[19]
Notes
^ "Thomas Keneally Keneally, Thomas (Vol. 117) – Essay". enotes.com, Inc. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ abc "Tom Keneally". Talking Heads. ABC. 30 July 2007. Archived from the original on 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
^ abcdef Peter Pierce, ed. (2006). "Thomas Kenneally, A Celebration" (PDF). Canberra, Australa: 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.
^ abc "Q&A Panellist Tom Keneally". ABC. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ "Interview – Thomas Keneally". januarymagazine.com.
^ "It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours". itsanhonour.gov.au.
^ McClellan, Dennis (26 Sep 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: Fairfax Media. 24 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
^ Steggall, Stephany Evans (26 September 2015). "Interestingly enough … The life of Tom Keneally, and his women". The Weekend Australian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
^ Toby Creswell; Samantha Trenoweth (2006). 1001 Australians You Should Know. Australia: Pluto Press. p. 136. ISBN 1-86403-361-4.
^ Tom Brock Lecture Archived 18 January 2011 at WebCite at the Australian Society for Sports History's website
^ FitzSimons, Peter (20 October 2007). "The Fitz Files". The Sydney Morning Herald. Australia: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2 October 2010.
^ "Obama lauds Rudd in 'meeting of the minds'". The Age.
^ "Former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally reveals her long-held TV dream, as she gets her own show". News Corp Australia. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
^ 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)
^ "Daunting, haunting task for an author with a story to tell". theage.com.au.
References
- Australian Biography website, including video interviews (and transcripts)
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 2015-04-17.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Thomas Keneally |
- Tom Keneally at Random House Australia
Life and Works of Thomas Keneally- Tom Keneally Centre
"Irish Escape". Secrets of the Dead. 2008-06-04. 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