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Edition 1 (1979) Winner
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Edition 9 (1987) Winner
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Edition 15 (1993) Winner
David Malouf
デイヴィッド・マルーフ
David Malouf
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1934-03-20 (Brisbane, Queensland, Australia)
- Nationality
- Australia
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- England (London, Birkenhead etc.) → Tuscany, Italy (residence) → Sydney, Australia (long-term residence) → Queensland, Australia (current residence)
Career
- Occupations
- novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, librettist
- Active Years
- 1962-
- Affiliations
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
- Memberships
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
- Influenced By
- Patrick White
- Influenced
- Nominations
- 1993 Booker Prize (shortlist) — Remembering Babylon, 2011 International Dublin Literary Award (shortlist) — Ransom, 2011 International Booker Prize (shortlist)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Queensland | — | English | B.A. | 1950年代(在学〜卒業) | Australia |
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Grace Leven Prize for Poetry | Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems | — | Grace Leven Prize | Winner |
| 1974 | Australian Literature Society Gold Medal | Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems | — | Australian Literature Society | Winner |
| 1979 | Christina Stead Prize for Fiction | An Imaginary Life | Fiction | New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards | Winner |
| 1991 | Miles Franklin Award | The Great World | — | Miles Franklin Award | Winner |
| 1991 | Prix Femina Étranger | The Great World | Étranger (Foreign) | Prix Femina | Winner |
| 1994 | Prix Femina Étranger | Remembering Babylon | Étranger (Foreign) | Prix Femina | Winner |
| 1994 | Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction | Remembering Babylon | Fiction | Los Angeles Times | Winner |
| 1996 | International Dublin Literary Award | Remembering Babylon | — | International Dublin Literary Award | Winner |
| 2000 | Neustadt International Prize for Literature | — | — | Neustadt International Prize for Literature | Winner |
| 2008 | Australia-Asia Literary Award | The Complete Stories | — | Australia-Asia Literary Award | Winner |
| 2016 | Australia Council Award (Lifetime Achievement) | — | Lifetime Achievement in Literature | Australia Council | Winner |
Awards & Nominations
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Edition 5 (1991) Winner
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Edition 8 (1994) Winner
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Edition 32 (1991) Winner
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Edition 4 (1992) Winner
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Edition 15 (1994) Winner
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Edition 1 (1996) Winner
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Edition 16 (2000) Winner
Works
Major Works
Johnno
1975 Novel (semi-autobiographical)A semi-autobiographical novel about a young man growing up in wartime Brisbane; explores friendship, class contrasts and youthful transgressions.
- [Stage] Johnno (stage adaptation) / La Boite Theatre (adaptation, 2006) (2006)
An Imaginary Life
1978 Novel (historical fiction)A short novel about the later years of the poet Ovid, exploring language, culture and solitude.
Fly Away Peter
1982 Novella (set around World War I)A novella about three acquaintances and their experiences of World War I; contrasts nature with the realities of war.
The Great World
1990 Novel (historical/epic)An epic novel tracing the relationship of two Australians through the upheavals of two World Wars, including imprisonment by the Japanese in WWII.
Remembering Babylon
1993 Novel (colonial-era community novel)Set in northern Australia in the 1850s, it tells of a young white man raised by Indigenous Australians whose arrival unsettles an isolated community of immigrant farmers.
Ransom
2009 Novel (reimagining of classical myth)A reimagining of a scene from Homer's Iliad, focusing on ransom, gift and the human acts of mercy around a bereaved father.
Bibliography
- Bicycle and Other Poems (1970)
- Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems (1974)
- Johnno (1975)
- An Imaginary Life (1978)
- Fly Away Peter (1982)
- The Great World (1990)
- Remembering Babylon (1993)
- The Conversations at Curlow Creek (1996)
- Ransom (2009)
- The Complete Stories (2007)
Adaptations
- Voss (opera libretto)
- Johnno (stage adaptation, 2006)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- lyrical yet realist proseprecise handling of spatial relationspoetic rhythm combined with polished prose
- Recurring Motifs
- origin and identitymemory and reappraisal of the pastsense of land and placeinterior examinations of masculinity
Legacy
David Malouf is one of Australia's foremost writers from the late 20th to early 21st century, internationally recognized across poetry, fiction, drama and libretti. His contributions—especially in spatial depiction and interiority—have had lasting significance in contemporary literature.
Academic Societies
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
- Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
Archives
- University of Queensland Library (manuscripts and archives)
Quotes
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“The place you come from is always the most exotic place you'll ever encounter because it is the only place where you recognise how many secrets and mysteries there are in people's lives.”
Source: Interview/essay (summarized on Wikipedia)
Trivia
- His father was a Lebanese Christian and his mother of Sephardi Jewish descent.
- He is openly gay.
- Remembering Babylon was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1993.
- He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).
- Recipient of international prizes including the Neustadt International Prize (2000).