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Edition 1 (2007) Winner
Robert Dessaix
ロバート・デサイクス
Rōbāto Desaikkusu
Aliases:
Robert Jones
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1944 （Sydney）
- Nationality
- Australian
- Languages
- English, Russian
- Residence History
- Sydney, Australia
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Essayist, Journalist, Russian studies scholar
- Active Years
- 1972-2025
- Affiliations
- Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), University of New South Wales
- Influenced By
- Ivan Turgenev, Alain de Botton
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Sydney Boys High School | — | — | — | — | Australia |
| Australian National University | — | Russian studies | 博士号 | 1960年代-1970年代 | Australia |
| Moscow State University | — | Russian language and literature | — | 1970年代初頭 | Soviet Union |
North Sydney Boys High School
Country:
Australia
High school education
Australian National University
Russian studies
Degree:
博士号
Period:
1960年代-1970年代
Country:
Australia
Studied Russian studies
Moscow State University
Russian language and literature
Period:
1970年代初頭
Country:
Soviet Union
Studied in early 1970s
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | NBC Banjo Awards (Non-Fiction) | A Mother's Disgrace | Non-Fiction | NBC | shortlisted |
| 1996 | Booksellers Choice Award | Night Letters | — | — | joint winner |
| 1997 | Australian Literature Society Gold Medal | Night Letters | — | Association for the Study of Australian Literature | winner |
| 1998 | Colin Roderick Award | (And So Forth) | — | James Cook University | winner |
| 2005 | Nib Literary Award | Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev | — | Waverley Library | shortlisted |
| 2005 | Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Nettie Palmer Prize) | Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev | Non-Fiction | State Library of Victoria | winner |
| 2005 | New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (Douglas Stewart Prize) | Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev | Non-Fiction | NSW Government | shortlisted |
| 2007 | Margaret Scott Prize | Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev | — | — | winner |
| 2022 | Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature | — | — | Australia Council | winner |
NBC Banjo Awards (Non-Fiction)
1994
Work:
A Mother's Disgrace
Category:
Non-Fiction
Organization:
NBC
Result:
shortlisted
Booksellers Choice Award
1996
Work:
Night Letters
Result:
joint winner
Australian Literature Society Gold Medal
1997
Work:
Night Letters
Organization:
Association for the Study of Australian Literature
Result:
winner
Colin Roderick Award
1998
Work:
(And So Forth)
Organization:
James Cook University
Result:
winner
Nib Literary Award
2005
Work:
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev
Organization:
Waverley Library
Result:
shortlisted
Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Nettie Palmer Prize)
2005
Work:
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev
Category:
Non-Fiction
Organization:
State Library of Victoria
Result:
winner
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards (Douglas Stewart Prize)
2005
Work:
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev
Category:
Non-Fiction
Organization:
NSW Government
Result:
shortlisted
Margaret Scott Prize
2007
Work:
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev
Result:
winner
Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature
2022
Organization:
Australia Council
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Night Letters
1996 Epistolary novelAn epistolary novel of a journey through Switzerland and Italy, edited and annotated by Igor Miazmov.
TravelIdentityLanguage
Translations
- Translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, and Portuguese
A Mother's Disgrace
1994 AutobiographyAutobiography about his journey to alternative sexuality after 12 years of marriage and meeting his birth mother Yvonne. Written in French.
FamilyIdentitySexuality
Adaptations
- [Screenplay] / Ross Wilson (1999)
Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev
2004 Non-fiction/TravelogueInterweaves a personal travelogue with a biography of Ivan Turgenev, inspired by his doctoral thesis.
LoveTravelLiterature
Bibliography
- Night Letters: A Journey Through Switzerland and Italy Edited and Annotated by Igor Miazmov
- Secrets
- Corfu
- A Mother's Disgrace
- Arabesques: A Tale of Double Lives
- What Days Are For
- Chameleon: A Memoir of Art, Travel, Ideas and Love
- (and so forth)
- Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev
- As I Was Saying: A Collection of Musings
- The Pleasures of Leisure
- The Time of Our Lives: Growing Older Well
Adaptations
- A Mother's Disgrace screenplay
Translations by Author
- Translations of Boris Vakhtin: The Sheepskin Coat, An Absolutely Happy Village
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Epistolary stylePersonal narrativeGenre-defying
- Recurring Motifs
- Quest for identityTravel and transformationLanguage and translation
Health
-
HIV-positive2010年頃-現在Visa refusal to Shanghai International Literary Festival and similar impacts
Legacy
Recognized as a major Australian writer, awarded Lifetime Achievement in Literature. Known for memoirs and novels.
Archives
- State Library of New South Wales (Mitchell Library)
Trivia
- Adopted and named Robert Jones by Tom and Jean Jones.
- Birth father killed in air crash shortly after WWII.
- Hosted ABC's Books and Writing from 1985-1995.