David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. He also delivered the 1998 Boyer Lectures. Malouf's 1974 collection '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' won the

Grace Leven Prize for Poetry The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...

and the

Australian Literature Society Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

. His 1990 novel ''

The Great World ''The Great World'' is a 1990 Miles Franklin literary award-winning novel by the Australian author David Malouf. It is an epic novel telling the story of two Australians during the turmoil of World War I & II; and second and the imprisonment of J ...

'' won numerous awards, including the 1991

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

and

Prix Femina Étranger Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who als ...

His 1993 novel '' Remembering Babylon'' was shortlisted for the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

and won the 1994

, the 1994 ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Fiction, the 1995 Prix Baudelaire and the 1996 International Dublin Literary Award. Malouf was awarded the

Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious inte ...

in 2000, the

Australia-Asia Literary Award Australia-Asia Literary Award (AALA) was an initiative of the Government of Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts.

in 2008 and the

Australia Council Award The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

for Lifetime Achievement in Literature in 2016. He has been mentioned as a candidate for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

Early life

Malouf was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia, to a Christian Lebanese father and an English-born mother of Portuguese Sephardi Jewish descent. His paternal family had immigrated from Lebanon in the 1880s, while his mother's family had moved to England via the Netherlands, before migrating to Australia in 1913. He attended

Brisbane Grammar School , motto_translation = Nothing Without Labour , established = 1868 , type = Independent, day & boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Non-denominational , slogan = , key_people = , ci ...

and graduated from the

with a B.A. degree in 1955. He lectured for a short period before moving to London, where he taught at Holland Park School, before relocating to

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in 1962. He returned to Australia in 1968, taught at his old school,Gilling, Tom, "David Malouf: Writer", '' The Weekend Australian Magazine'', 2–3 August 2008, p. 28 and lectured in English at the Universities of Queensland and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Personal life

Malouf identifies as gay. He has lived in England and

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, and for the past three decades spent most of his time in Sydney.

Writing

Though he would later become known abroad for his prose works, Malouf initially concentrated on poetry. His first work appeared in 1962, as part of a book he shared with three more Australian poets. His collection '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' (1974) features childhood memories, his mother, his sister, travelling in Europe and war. 1992 brought the publication of ''Poems, 1959–1989''. Some of his poetry was also collected in ''Revolving Days: Selected Poems'' (2008), which is divided into four sections: on childhood, then Europe, then relocating to Sydney, then travelling between Europe and Australia. Malouf's first novel, '' Johnno'' (1975), is the semi-autobiographical tale of a young man growing up in Brisbane during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Johnno engages in shoplifting and goes to

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

s, which contrasts with his friend Dante's middle-class conservatism.

La Boite Theatre La Boite Theatre is an Australian theatre company based in Brisbane, Queensland. La Boite was established in 1925 and is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company. Playing a vital role in the cultural landscape, La Boite Theat ...

adapted it for stage in 2006. Malouf began writing full-time in 1977. '' An Imaginary Life'' (1978) is about the final years of

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

. Malouf's 1982 novella about three acquaintances and their experience of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

was titled ''

Fly Away Peter ''Fly Away Peter'' is a 1982 novel by Australian author David Malouf. It won The Age Book of the Year award in 1982, and is often studied at senior level in Australian high schools. Plot summary ''Fly Away Peter'' is an Australian novel set ...

''. His epic novel ''

'' (1990) tells the story of two Australians and their relationship amid the turmoil of two World Wars, including imprisonment by the Japanese during World War II. His

-shortlisted novel '' Remembering Babylon'' (1993) is set in northern Australia during the 1850s amid a community of English immigrant farmers (with one Scottish family) whose isolated existence is threatened by the arrival of a stranger, a young white man raised from boyhood by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. Malouf has written several collections of short stories, and a play, '' Blood Relations'' (1988). Australian critic

Peter Craven Peter Theodore Craven
, fansite biography by Jim Blanchard. (accessed 12 July 2006). (21 June 1934 – 2 ...

described Malouf's 2007 short-story collection ''Every Move You Make'' as "as formidable and bewitching a collection of stories as you would be likely to find anywhere in the English-speaking world". Craven went on to state that "No one else in this country has: the maintenance of tone, the expertness of prose, the easeful transition between lyrical and realist effects. The man is a master, a superb writer, and also (which is not the same thing) a completely sophisticated literary gent". ''The Complete Stories'' appeared in 2007. Malouf has also written libretti for three operas (including '' Voss'', an adaptation of the novel of the same name by

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

and first produced in the 1986

Adelaide Festival of Arts The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

conducted by

Stuart Challender Stuart David Challender (19 February 194713 December 1991) was an Australian conductor, known particularly for his work with Opera Australia, The Australian Opera, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra and the Sydn ...

), and ''Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (with music by Michael Berkeley), which combines a semi-autobiographical story by Rudyard Kipling with Kipling's '' Jungle Books''. Malouf published his memoir, titled ''12 Edmondstone Street'', in 1985.

Lecturing

Malouf delivered the 1998 Boyer Lectures on ABC Radio.

Themes and subject matter

Malouf's work tends to be set in Australia, though "a European sensibility" is also present. His writing is characterised by a heightened sense of spatial relations, from the physical environments into which he takes his readers—whether within or outside built spaces, or in a natural landscape. He has likened each of his succession of novels to the discovery and exploration of a new room in a house, rather than part of an overarching development. "At a certain point, you begin to see what the connections are between things, and you begin to know what space it is you are exploring." From his first novel '' Johnno'' onwards, his themes focused on "male identity and soul-searching". He said that much of the male writing that preceded him "was about the world of action. I don't think that was ever an accurate description of men's lives". He identified

as the writer who turned this around in Australian literature—that White's writing was the kind "that goes behind inarticulacy and or unwillingness to speak, writing that gives the language of feeling to people who don't have it themselves". Malouf also said that "I knew that the world around you is only uninteresting if you can't see what is really going on. 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". However, after nearly four decades of writing, he concluded that in older writers can sometimes be found "a fading of the intensity of the imagination, and ... of the interest in the tiny details of life and behaviour—you see ritersgetting a bit impatient with that."

Awards and honours

As well as his numerous accolades for fiction, Malouf was awarded the Pascall Prize for Critical Writing in 1988. In 2008, Malouf won the Australian Publishers Association's

Lloyd O'Neil Lloyd Reginald Terrence O'Neil (born 24 June 1937) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 1993, representing the South Australian seat of Grey for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Early ...

Award for outstanding service to the Australian book industry. He was elected a Fellow of the

in 2008. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. *1974:

, for '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' *1974: Townsville Foundation for Australian Literary Studies Award, for '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' *1974:

, for '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' *1974: Colin Roderick Award, for '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' *1979: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, for '' An Imaginary Life'' *1982: ''The Age'' Book of the Year Award, for ''

'' *1983: Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, for ''Child's Play'' and ''

'' *1985: Victorian Premier's Literary Award, for ''Antipodes'' *1990: National Library of Australia National Audio Book-of-the-Year Award joint winner, for ''

'' *1991

, for ''

'' *1991: Commonwealth Writers' Prize (South East Asia and South Pacific Region, Best Book from the Region Award), for ''

'' *1991: Commonwealth Writers Prize, Overall Best Book Award, for ''

'' *1991:

, for ''

'' *1991: Honorary doctorate from the

*1992:

Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature The Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature comprise a group of biennially-granted literary awards established in 1986 by the Government of South Australia, announced during Adelaide Writers' Week, as part of the Adelaide Festival. The awards i ...

, National Fiction Award, for ''

'' *1993: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1993:

shortlist, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1994:

, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1994: Commonwealth Writers Prize, South-East Asia and South Pacific Region, Best Book from the Region Award, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1994: ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Fiction, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1994:

National Book Council Banjo Award The National Book Council Banjo Awards were presented by the National Book Council of Australia from 1974 to 1997 for works of fiction and non-fiction. The name commemorates the bush poet Andrew Barton Banjo Paterson. The Council has enjoyed nota ...

for Fiction shortlist, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1995: Prix Baudelaire (France), for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1996: International Dublin Literary Award, for '' Remembering Babylon'' *1996: ''The Age'' Book of the Year Award shortlist, for ''

The Conversations at Curlow Creek ''The Conversations at Curlow Creek'' is a historical novel written by the prominent Australian author David Malouf. It was first published in 1996 by the Random House publishing group. Plot summary The story takes place in 1827 on an isol ...

'' *1997:

shortlist, for ''

'' *2000:

*2007: '' The Age'' Book of the Year Award for Fiction, for ''Every Move You Make'' *2007: The

Queensland Premier's Literary Awards The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...

, Australian Short Story Collection – Arts Queensland

Steele Rudd Award The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...

*2008:

Australia-Asia Literary Award Australia-Asia Literary Award (AALA) was an initiative of the Government of Western Australia Department of Culture and the Arts.

, for ''The Complete Stories'' *2009:

Q150 Icons The Queensland's Q150 Icons list of cultural icons was compiled as part of Q150 celebrations in 2009 by the Government of Queensland, Australia. It represented the people, places and events that were significant to Queensland's first 150 years. ...

of Queensland for his role as an "Influential Artist", announced as part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia. Q15 ...

celebrations *2009: John D. Criticos Prize for Greek literature, for ''

Ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

'' *2011: International Dublin Literary Award shortlist, for ''

'' *2011: International Booker Prize shortlist *2014:

Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form.New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, for ''Earth Hour'' *2016:

for Lifetime Achievement in Literature

Selected bibliography

Novels

* '' Johnno'' (1975) * '' An Imaginary Life'' (1978) * ''Harland's Half Acre'' (1984) * ''

'' (1990) * '' Remembering Babylon'' (1993) * ''

'' (1996) * ''

'' (2009)

Novella

* ''

'' (1982)

Short story collections

* ''Child's Play'' (1982) * ''

Antipodes In geography, the antipode () of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points ''antipodal'' () to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Ear ...

'' (1985) * ''Untold Tales'' (1999) * ''

Dream Stuff ''Dream Stuff'' is a collection of short stories by the Australian writer David Malouf David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of th ...

'' (2000) * ''Every Move You Make'' (2006) * ''The Complete Stories'' (2007)

Poetry collections

* ''

Bicycle and Other Poems ''Bicycle and Other Poems'' (1970) is the debut poetry collection by Australian poet and author David Malouf. The collection consists of 41 poems, several of which were previously published in various Australian poetry and general magazines, w ...

'' (1970) * '' Neighbours in a Thicket: Poems'' (1974) * ''Poems 1975–76'' (1976) * ''First Things Last'' (1980) * ''Wild Lemons: Poems'' (1980) * ''Selected Poems 1959–1989'' (1992) * ''Guide to the Perplexed and Other Poems'' (

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

: Warners Bay, New South Wales: Picaro Press, 2007, 16pp) * ''Typewriter Music'' (St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 2007, 82pp) * ''Revolving Days: Selected Poems'' (2008) * * ''An Open Book'' (2018), University of Queensland Press,

Non-fiction

* ''12 Edmondstone St'' ( memoir – 1985) * "A Spirit of Play: The Making of Australian Consciousness", Boyer Lectures (1998) * * ''Made in England: Australia's British inheritance'' ('' Quarterly Essay'', Black Inc – QE12 – November 2003) * ''On Experience'' (''Little Books on Big Themes'' – 2008) * "The Happy Life" (''Quarterly Essay'', Black Inc – 2011) * ''The Writing Life: Book 2'' (2014)

Plays

* '' Blood Relations'' (1988)

Libretti

* '' Voss'' (1986, music:

Richard Meale Richard Graham Meale, AM, MBE (24 August 193223 November 2009) was an Australian composer of instrumental works and operas. Biography Meale was born in Sydney. At the time the Meale family lived in Marrickville, an inner suburb of Sydney. Meal ...

) * ''Mer de glace'' (1991, music: Richard Meale) * ''Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1993) * '' Jane Eyre'' (2000)

References

External links

*
David Malouf at Random House Australia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malouf, David 1934 births 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian non-fiction writers 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century essayists 20th-century Australian LGBT people 20th-century memoirists 21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian non-fiction writers 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian poets 21st-century Australian short story writers 21st-century essayists 21st-century Australian LGBT people 21st-century memoirists ALS Gold Medal winners Australian essayists Australian expatriates in Italy Australian expatriates in England Australian gay writers Australian historical novelists Australian LGBT novelists Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male non-fiction writers Australian male novelists Australian male poets Australian male short story writers Australian memoirists Australian opera librettists Australian people of Lebanese descent Australian people of Portuguese-Jewish descent Australian Sephardi Jews Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Granta people Jewish Australian writers Lecturers LGBT Jews Living people Meanjin people Miles Franklin Award winners Prix Femina Étranger winners Australian psychological fiction writers Queensland Greats University of Queensland alumni Writers about activism and social change Writers from Brisbane Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age Australian LGBT poets Australian LGBT dramatists and playwrights Q150 Icons