Rodney Hall AM (born 18 November 1935) is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

writer.

Biography

Born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, England, Hall came to Australia as a child after

World War II 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 ...

and studied at 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 ...

(1971). In the 1960s Hall began working as a freelance writer, and a book and film reviewer. He also worked as an actor, and was often engaged by the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

in Brisbane. Between 1967 and 1978 he was the Poetry Editor of ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

''. He began publishing poetry in the 1970s and has since published thirteen novels, including ''Just Relations'' and ''The Island in the Mind''. He lived in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

for a period in the late 1980s. From 1991 to 1994, he served as chair of the

Australia Council 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 ...

. Hall lives in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. In addition to a number of literary awards such as twice winning the

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 ...

, he was appointed a Member of Order of Australia for "service to the Arts, particularly in the field of literature" in 1990. Hall's memoir ''Popeye Never Told You'' was launched in May 2010 and was published by Pier 9. He was co-founder of the Australian Summer School of Early Music in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. In June 2014 he staged

Jacopo Peri Jacopo Peri (20 August 156112 August 1633), known under the pseudonym Il Zazzerino, was an Italian composer and singer of the transitional period between the Renaissance and Baroque styles, and is often called the inventor of opera. He wrote the ...

's opera '' Euridice'' at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival.

Awards

Bibliography

Novels

* ''The Ship on the Coin: A Fable of the Bourgeoisie'' (1972) * ''A Place Among People'' (1975) * '' Just Relations'' (1982) * ''Kisses of the Enemy'' (1987) * ''Captivity Captive'' (1988) - third book in the Yandilli trilogy * ''The Second Bridegroom'' (1991) - first book in the Yandilli trilogy * ''

The Grisly Wife ''The Grisly Wife'' is a 1993 Miles Franklin literary 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 ...

'' (1993) - second book in the Yandilli trilogy * ''The Island in the Mind'' (1996) * ''

The Day We Had Hitler Home ''The Day We Had Hitler Home'' is a 2000 novel by the Australian author Rodney Hall. Awards and nominations *Miles Franklin Literary Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the hig ...

'' (2000) * ''The Last Love Story'' (2004) * ''

Love Without Hope ''Love Without Hope'' is a 2007 novel by the Australian author Rodney Hall. Dedication "For Julian Burnside" Epigraph "You are not dying because you are ill. You are dying because you are alive." - Montaigne Awards and nominations *Mil ...

'' (2007) * ''A Stolen Season'' (2018)

Short fiction

;Collections * ''Silence'' (2011)

Poetry

;Collections * ''The Climber'' (1962) * ''Penniless Till Doomsday'' (1962) * ''Forty Beads on a Hangman's Rope'' (1963) * ''Eyewitness'' (1967) * ''The Autobiography of a Gorgon'' (1968) * ''The Law of Karma'' (1968) * ''Australia'' (1970) * ''Heaven, In a Way'' (1970) * ''A Soapbox Omnibus'' (1973) * ''Selected Poems'' (1975) * ''Black Bagatelles'' (1978) * ''The Most Beautiful World'' (1981) * ''The Owner of My Face: New and Selected Poems'' (2002) ;Anthologies (edited) * ''New Impulses in Australian Poetry'' (1968) with

Thomas Shapcott Thomas William Shapcott (born 21 March 1935) is an Australian poet, novelist, playwright, editor, librettist, short story writer and teacher. Biography Thomas William Shapcott was born in Ipswich, Queensland, and attended the Ipswich Grammar ...

* ''Australian Poetry 1970'' (1970) * ''Poems from Prison'' (1973) * ''Australians Aware'' (1975) (a collection of poems and paintings) * ''Voyage into Solitude'' (1978) (a collection of Michael Dransfield poetry) * ''The Second Month of Spring'' (1980) (a collection of Michael Dransfield poetry) * ''The Collins Book of Australian Poetry'' (1981) * ''Michael Dransfield Collected Poems'' (1987) ;List of poems

Non-fiction

* ''Focus on Andrew Sibley'' (1968) * ''J. S. Manifold: An Introduction to the Man and His Work'' (1978) * ''Australia - Image of a Nation 1850-1950'' (1983) (the text of a photographic collection) * ''Home: Journey Through Australia'' (1988) * ''Abolish the States!'' (1998) ;Memoirs * Popeye Never Told You (2010)