Luke Davies (born 1962) is an Australian writer of poetry, novels and screenplays. His best known works are '' Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction'' (which was adapted for the screen in 2006) and the screenplay for the film '' Lion'', which earned him a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay Film adaptation, adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include st ...

. Davies also co-wrote the screenplay for the film '' News of the World.''

Life and career

Davies studied Arts at 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 ...

.Jason Steger, "Love in the time of poetry", ''The Age'', 21 August 2004, Review, p. 3 His first poetry collection ''Four Plots for Magnets'' was published in 1982 by S. K. Kelen at Glandular Press. Long out of print, it was republished (with additional poetry and prose) by Pitt Street Poetry in 2013. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 2006 film '' Candy'' with director Neil Armfield, based on his 1997 novel '' Candy''. The film stars

Heath Ledger Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor and music video director. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to ...

and

Abbie Cornish Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in ''Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' (201 ...

as struggling heroin addicts. Davies himself overcame heroin addiction in 1990. Davies' other works include the novels ''Isabelle the Navigator'' and ''God of Speed'', and several volumes of poetry – ''Four Plots for Magnets'', ''Absolute Event Horizon'', ''Running With Light'', ''Totem'' and ''Interferon Psalms'' – as well as the chatbooks ''The Entire History of Architecture ..and other love poems'' (Vagabond Press, 2001) and ''The Feral Aphorisms'' (Vagabond Press, 2011). Davies wrote the screenplays for ''Air'' (a 2009 short film which he also directed), ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'', '' Lion'', and the Felix van Groeningen drama '' Beautiful Boy''. He wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film '' News of the World'', adapted from

Paulette Jiles Paulette Jiles (aka Paulette K. Jiles, Paulette Jiles-Johnson) (born 4 April 1943) is an American poet, memoirist, and novelist. Personal life Paulette Kay Jiles was born in 1943 in Salem, Missouri. She attended college at the University of ...

' novel, starring

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

. Davies is also a film critic for ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'', and occasional book reviewer and essayist for other magazines and newspapers. In 2010 Davies won the John Curtin Prize for Journalism, at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, for his essay ''The Penalty Is Death'', about the lives inside prison of

Andrew Chan Andrew Chan (; 12 January 1984 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man who was convicted and executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. ...

and Myuran Sukumaran, two drug runners on Bali's death row. (They would be executed by firing squad, to great public controversy, in 2015.) His children's book, ''Magpie'', was published by ABC Books in 2010. In May 2017 the

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

program ''

Australian Story ''Australian Story'' is a national weekly current affairs and documentary style television series which is broadcast on ABC Television. It is produced specifically by the ABC News and Current Affairs Department. The program first aired on 29 ...

'' profiled Davies' life in a two-part episode.

Awards and nominations

*1995: Turnbull Fox Phillips Poetry Prize Shortlisted for ''Absolute Event Horizon'' *1998: A Sydney Morning Herald Young Writer of the Year *2000: Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, Judith Wright Poetry Prize for ''Running With Light'' *2004: The Age Poetry Book of the Year for ''Totem'' *2004: Overall

Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awar ...

for ''Totem'' *2004:

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 benefactres ...

for ''Totem'' *2004: Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal at the Mildura Writer's Festival *2006:

South Australian Premier's Awards 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 ...

, John Bray Poetry Award for ''Totem'' *2010: John Curtin Prize for Journalism at the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards for the essay ''The Penalty Is Death'' *2011: Southern California Journalism Awards for the essay ''The Cisco Kid'' (Finalist) *2012:

Prime Minister's Literary Awards The Australian Prime Minister's Literary Awards (PMLA) were announced at the end of 2007 by the incoming First Rudd ministry following the 2007 election. They are administered by the Minister for the Arts.Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is presented by the Critics Choice Association at the annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The categories for screenplays have gone through several changes since their inception in 1995 ...

for '' Lion'' (Nominated) *2016: Satellite Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for '' Lion'' (Nominated) *2016: AWFJ EDA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for '' Lion'' (Nominated) *2016: Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards for Breakthrough Screenwriter for '' Lion'' (Won) *2017:

AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay The AACTA International Award for Best Screenplay is an accolade given by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA), a non-profit organisation whose aim is to "identify, award, promote, and celebrate Australia's greatest achi ...

for '' Lion'' (Nominated) *2017: USC Scripter Award for Best Screenplay for '' Lion'' (Nominated) *2017: Capri International Film Festival Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for '' Lion'' (Won) *2017: BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay for '' Lion'' (Won) *2017:

for '' Lion'' (Nominated)

Bibliography

Notes

References

''ABC TV Sunday Arts'' 30 July 2006
Accessed: 16 July 2007

Accessed: 16 July 2007
Candy Film Review

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Luke 1962 births Living people 20th-century Australian male writers 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian poets 21st-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian male poets Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners The Monthly people Writers from Sydney