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Peter Carey

ピーター・キャリー

Pitā Kyarī

Aliases: Peter Philip Carey

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1943-05-07 (Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia)
Nationality
Australia
Languages
English
Residence History
Bacchus Marsh, Victoria → Geelong, Victoria → Melbourne → Balmain, Sydney → Yandina, Queensland → Bellingen, New South Wales → New York City

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Creative writing teacher, Advertising executive
Active Years
1974-
Affiliations
Grey Advertising, McSpedden Carey Advertising Consultants, New York University, Hunter College
Memberships
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Samuel Beckett, William Faulkner, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Gabriel García Márquez
Influenced
Australian literature
Nominations
Booker Prize shortlist: Illywhacker (1985), Parrot and Olivier in America (2010) etc., ARIA Music Awards nomination for Illusion (1987)

Education

Monash University
Faculty of Science / Chemistry and Zoology
Period: 1961 (中退)
Country: Australia
Dropped out due to car accident and lack of interest
Geelong Grammar School
Boarding school
Period: 1954-1960
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: Australia
Bacchus Marsh State School
Period: 1948-1953
Year of Graduation: 1953
Country: Australia

Awards

Booker Prize
1988
Work: Oscar and Lucinda
Organization: Booker Prize Foundation
Result: 受賞
Booker Prize
2001
Work: True History of the Kelly Gang
Organization: Booker Prize Foundation
Result: 受賞
Miles Franklin Award
1981
Work: Bliss
Result: 受賞
Miles Franklin Award
1989
Work: Oscar and Lucinda
Result: 受賞
Miles Franklin Award
1998
Work: Jack Maggs
Result: 受賞
Officer of the Order of Australia
2012
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Oscar and Lucinda

1988 Historical novel

A historical novel about a gambler and a female parson in 19th-century Australia.

FateFaithColonialism
Adaptations
  • [Film] Oscar and Lucinda / Gillian Armstrong (1997)

True History of the Kelly Gang

2000 Historical novel

A fictional memoir of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly.

IdentityRebellionAustralian history
Adaptations
  • [Film] True History of the Kelly Gang / Justin Kurzel (2019)

Bliss

1981 Satirical novel

A satirical novel about an ad man experiencing the afterlife.

CapitalismDeath
Adaptations
  • [Film] Bliss / Ray Lawrence (1985)

Bibliography

  • Bliss (1981), Illywhacker (1985), Oscar and Lucinda (1988), The Tax Inspector (1991), The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), Jack Maggs (1997), True History of the Kelly Gang (2000), My Life as a Fake (2003), Theft: A Love Story (2006), His Illegal Self (2008), Parrot and Olivier in America (2010), The Chemistry of Tears (2012), Amnesia (2014), A Long Way From Home (2017)

Adaptations

  • Oscar and Lucinda (film, 1997)
  • True History of the Kelly Gang (film, 2019)
  • Bliss (film, 1985)
  • Dead End Drive-In (film, 1986, from short story Crabs)

Translations by Author

  • Wrong About Japan (2005, non-fiction)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
PostmodernSatiricalRich historical imagination
Recurring Motifs
Australian identityFraud and truthColonial legacy

Legacy

One of only five writers to win the Booker Prize twice, a leading Australian novelist who has elevated Australian literature internationally.

Archives

  • Fryer Library, University of Queensland
  • National Library of Australia

In Popular Culture

  • Featured on Australian postage stamps in 'Australian Legends' series (2010)

Quotes

  • 'When you change countries you lose your peripheral vision.'
    Source: Interview on True History of the Kelly Gang (2001)

Trivia

  • One of only five writers to win the Booker Prize twice.
  • Started career in advertising, working on campaigns for Volkswagen and Lindeman's Wine.
  • Served as executive director of MFA in Creative Writing at Hunter College for 19 years.