Thomas Keneally

One of Australia's most successful modern authors, Thomas Keneally has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize on four occasions. 

Thomas Keneally is the award-winning author of twenty-six works of fiction and eight works of non-fiction. One of Australia's most successful contemporary writers, Keneally has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize on four occasions: in 1972 for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (HarperCollins, Australia, 2001), Gossip from the Forest (Hodder & Stoughton, Australia, 1989) in 1975, and Confederates (Hodder & Stoughton, Australia, 1994) in 1979, before winning the prize in 1982 with Schindler's Ark (Hodder & Stoughton, Australia, 1994), which was later adapted into the film Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg. The novel was controversial at the time as it was considered by some to be more a work of journalism than a work of fiction.

Keneally has twice won Australia's premier literary prize, the Miles Franklin Literary Award, for Bring Larks and Heroes (Penguin Books, Australia, 1995) and Three Cheers for the Paraclete (Penguin Books, Australia, 1984).

Interested not only in Australian history, but also in that of other parts of the world, Keneally has travelled widely and lived abroad, experiences reflected in the great variety of geographical and historical settings of his books. In 1987, for example, he travelled in Eritrea under the protection of the Eritrean Liberation Front, an event that formed the basis of his book on the Ethiopian-Eritrean war, Towards Asmara (1988).

In November 1998 Australian newspaper The Age reported on the arrival of Keneally's new book The Great Shame (Random House, Australia, 1998). Keneally wrote, "Some years ago an editor suggested that having written on the Holocaust I should write something on the great Irish catastrophe of the 19th century ... We agreed that the 19th-century calamity, particularly the famine, was compelling. But it had been splendidly written about by a number of writers. And it was not comparable to the Holocaust ... In any case, I told the editor that if ever I was silly enough to buy into the tendentious question of Irish history I would want to tell the story not frontally from the point of view of convicts transported to Australia for particular crimes, not those aimed directly at person or property but those designed as social or political protest." The research and writing took three years - the longest gap between any successive books in Keneally's writing career.

Known for his humour as well as his moral stance and his commitment for the fate of ordinary people, Keneally has become a public figure in Australia and a sought-after speaker of distinction. He was made an AO in 1983, and, among many other honours, received a DLitt from the University of Queensland. A staunch supporter of Australian republicanism, he wrote an account of his views on this controversial public issue, Our Republic (1993). Keneally is also the author of several books for children. His most recent adult book is The Widow and her Hero (Doubleday, Australia, 2007) and he is currently working on a history of Australia. His work has been published in English and widely translated.