Gregory Day is an Australian novelist, poet, and musician.

Life

Gregory Day is a novelist, poet, essayist and musician based in Victoria, Australia. He is well known for his Mangowak novels, which document generational, demographic, and environmental change on the 21st-century coast of southwest Victoria, Australia, and also for novels such as ''Archipelago of Souls'' and ''A Sand Archive'', which explore the possibilities of finding the right balance between nature and culture through investigating the experience of the Australian character abroad. He has been much acclaimed for his place-based nature essays, and also for his musical compositions and field recordings, notably his settings and singing of the poetry of William Butler Yeats on the albu
''The Black Tower''
and his projec

which narrates in song the building of the Great Ocean Road in southwest Victoria in the years following The Great War. Day is also the co-founder with artist and book designer, Sian Marlow, of the fine press limited edition literature and music publisher, Merrijig Word & Sound Co.

Awards and nominations

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

, South East Asia and South Pacific Region, Best First Book, 2006: ''The Patron Saint of Eels'' — shortlisted *

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 ...

, 2006: ''The Patron Saint of Eels'' — winner *

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

, Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, 2008: ''Ron McCoy's Sea of Diamonds: A Novel'' — shortlisted *

Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize The ''ABR'' Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize is an annual short fiction competition run by the ''Australian Book Review''. The Prize, with total prize money of AU$12,500 and "generating over a thousand new stories each year", is "hotly contested" ...

, 2011: ''The Neighbour's Beans'' — winner *Manly Artist Book Award, 2017: ''A Smile at Arm's Length'' — winner *

Tasmanian Premier's Literary Prizes The Tasmanian Premier's Literary Prizes are literary prizes that are awarded biennially in four categories by the Tasmanian Government. There are two panels of three judges: one for the book prizes, the other for the emerging writers and young wr ...

, Tasmania Book Prize, 2017: ''Archipelago of Souls'' — shortlisted * Nature Conservancy, Australia Nature Writing Prize, 2019
''Summer On The Painkalac''
— shortlisted *

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 ...

, 2019: ''A Sand Archive'' — shortlisted * Patrick White Literary Award, 2020 — winner *Nature Conservancy Australia Nature Writing Prize, 2021 – winner

Bibliography

Novels

* ''

The Patron Saint of Eels ''The Patron Saint of Eels'' (2005) is a novel by Australian author Gregory Day. It won the 2006 ALS Gold Medal. Plot summary A moral tale, the novel tells the story of an Italian saint, Fra Ionio, who comes down from heaven to the small Austra ...

'' (2005)
''Ron McCoy's Sea of Diamonds'' (2007)''The Grand Hotel'' (2010)''Archipelago of Souls'' (2015)''A Sand Archive'' (2018)

Essays

''Words Are Eagles: Selected Writings on the Nature and Language of Place'' (2022)

Artist Books

Poetry

* ''Six Different Ways'' (1999) — with Kieran Carroll and Michael Farrell etc.

(2003)

(2016)

Music

*''Untitled Red: No Evangelism'' (1992) *''Barroworn: Mangowak Days'' (1995)

(1998) *'' Trace'' soundtrack with Silver Ray (2003)

(2005) * ttps://vimeo.com/138710919 ''The Ampliphones: Emotional Patterns of a New Climate''(2015)
''Rejectamenta: From Real to Imagined Seaweed''
(2021)

Interviews

* "ABC Radio National Books and Arts

July 2015 * "ABC Radio National Book Show

- 21 May 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Gregory 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian poets Australian songwriters Living people ALS Gold Medal winners 21st-century Australian male writers Year of birth missing (living people)