Thomas Keneally | |
|---|---|
 Keneally in 2012 | |
| Born | Thomas Michael Keneally (1935-10-07)7 October 1935 (age 90) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Notable awards | Booker Prize |
| Spouse | Judy Martin (m. 1965) |
| Children | 2 |
Thomas Michael Keneally (born 7 October 1935)[1] is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his historical fiction novelSchindler's Ark, the story ofOskar Schindler's rescue of Jews duringthe Holocaust, which won theBooker Prize in 1982. The book would later be adapted intoSteven Spielberg's 1993 filmSchindler's List, which won sevenAcademy Awards, includingBest Picture.
Both Keneally's parents (Edmund Thomas Keneally and Elsie Margaret Coyle) were born toIrish fathers in the timber and dairy town ofKempsey, New South Wales, and although he was born inSydney, he too spent his early years in Kempsey.[2] His father, Edmund Thomas Keneally, flew for theRoyal Australian Air Force inWorld War II, then returned to work in a small business in Sydney. By 1942, the family had moved to 7 Loftus Crescent,Homebush, a suburb in theInner West of Sydney and Keneally was enrolled at Christian BrothersSt Patrick's College, Strathfield. Shortly after, his brother John was born. Keneally studied Honours English for hisLeaving Certificate in 1952, under Brother James Athanasius McGlade, and won a Commonwealth scholarship.[3]
Keneally then enteredSt Patrick's Seminary,Manly, to train as aCatholic 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 ordination in the priesthood. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist and was a lecturer at theUniversity of New England (1968–70).[3]
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]
Keneally's first story was published inThe 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 hisSchindler's Ark (1982) (later republished asSchindler's List), the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the filmSchindler's List. He had already been shortlisted for the Booker three times prior to that: 1972 forThe Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, 1975 forGossip from the Forest, and 1979 forConfederates.[5]
Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.
Premièred at London'sRoyal Court Theatre, the playOur Country's Good byTimberlake Wertenbaker is based on Keneally's bookThe Playmaker. In it, convicts deported from Britain to the Empire's penal colony of Australia perform George Farquhar's Restoration comedyThe Recruiting Officer set in the English town of Shrewsbury. Artistic DirectorMax Stafford-Clark wrote about his experiences of staging the plays in repertoire in his bookLetters to George.
Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role inFred Schepisi'sThe Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) (based onhis own novel) and played Father Marshall in the award-winning filmThe Devil's Playground (1976), also by Schepisi.[6]
Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of theAustralia Council from 1985 to 1988 and President of the National Book Council from 1985 to 1989.[3]
Keneally was a visiting professor at theUniversity 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 aBalzac of ourliterature; 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 theSydney 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 theAsylum Seekers Centre, anot-for-profit that provides personal and practical support to people seekingasylum in Australia.[9]
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 theAustralian Republic Movement[5] and published a book on the subjectOur Republic in 1993. Several of his Republican essays appear on the website of the movement. He is also a keen supporter ofrugby league football,[11] in particular theManly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of theNRL. In 2004, he gave the sixth annualTom Brock Lecture.[12] He made an appearance in the 2007 rugby league drama filmThe Final Winter.[13]
In March 2009, thePrime Minister of Australia,Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's biographyLincoln to PresidentBarack Obama as a state gift.[14]
Keneally's nephewBen is married to the former seniorAustralian Labor PartySenator,Kristina Keneally. She is also a formerPremier of New South Wales andSky News Australia newscaster.
Keneally wrote theBooker Prize-winning novel in 1982, inspired by the efforts ofPoldek Pfefferberg, aHolocaust survivor. In 1980, Keneally met Pfefferberg in the latter's shop, and learning that Keneally was a novelist, Pfefferberg showed him his extensive files onOskar Schindler, including the original list itself.[15] 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 dedicatedSchindler'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 the movieSchindler's List (1993) directed bySteven Spielberg, earning his first Best DirectorOscar. Keneally's meeting with Pfefferberg and their research tours are detailed in the bookSearching for Schindler: A Memoir.[16][17]
In 1996,[18] theState Library of New South Wales, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, purchased some of the Pfefferberg documents that inspired Keneally, from a private collector, and they are now housed there.[19]
Keneally was elected aFellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1973.[20]
In 1983, he was made an Officer of theOrder of Australia (AO).[21] He is anAustralian Living Treasure. Keneally has stated that he was once offered the title ofCommander of the Order of the British Empire, and that he refused it. "I said I pitied any empire of which I was a commander".[22]
In 2010 the Australian postal service issued a stamp in his honour.[23]
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[24] |
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Las cajas con los documentos fue adquirido en 1996 por la biblioteca de Nueva Gales del Sur, en Sidney.
