Robert Dessaix (born 17 February 1944) is an Australian novelist, essayist and journalist.

Biography

Robert Dessaix was born in Sydney and adopted at an early age by Tom and Jean Jones, after which he was known as Robert Jones. Tom Jones, a merchant seaman, was already 55 when Robert was adopted. Robert was educated at

North Sydney Boys High School North Sydney Boys High School (abbreviated as NSBHS) is a government-funded, single-sex, academically selective secondary day school for boys, located at Crows Nest, on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. In 2022, Nor ...

and the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. He married in 1970. He studied at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

during the early 1970s, and taught Russian Studies at the Australian National University and the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensiv ...

from 1972 to 1984. During this time he translated a number of Russian books into English in collaboration with Michael Ulman, including '' The Sheepskin Coat'' and '' An Absolutely Happy Village'' by Boris Vakhtin. Robert Jones resumed his birth name Robert Dessaix after he was awarded his doctorate. From 1985 to 1995 he presented the ABC program ''Books and Writing''. His first book was his autobiography, ''A Mother's Disgrace'', which was published in 1994 by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

. Manuscripts concerning ''A Mother's Disgrace'' are in the Mitchell Library of the State Library of New South Wales. The manuscript was written in French, and the book concerns his journey to an alternative sexuality after twelve years of marriage and his meeting with his birth mother Yvonne. It was made into a screenplay by Ross Wilson in 1999. He never met his birth father, who was killed in an air crash shortly after the end of World War II. His first fictional work, the

epistolary novel An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse documents of other kinds with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered ...

''Night Letters'', was published in 1996. It was translated into German, French, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, and Portuguese. His second novel was ''Corfu'', published in 2001. Dessaix's latest long work, ''Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev'' defies genre characterisation, interweaving a personal travelogue with a biography of

Ivan Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

. It was published in 2004. It takes inspiration from his doctoral thesis on Turgenev and the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, as well as

Alain de Botton Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993) ...

's works on travel, art and philosophy. In March 2010 it was revealed that Dessaix had been refused a visa to attend the Shanghai International Literary Festival. He had declared his

HIV-positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immun ...

status on his application, and although the guidelines stated that HIV status would have no prejudicial effect, it was felt that it must have been the reason for the refusal because Dessaix had had no political involvement in matters concerning China. The State Library of NSW holds an extensive collection of material related to Dessaix including his papers concerning the writing of ''Night Letters''.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Night Letters: A Journey Through Switzerland and Italy Edited and Annotated by Igor Miazmov'' (1996) * ''Secrets'' (with Drusilla Modjeska and Amanda Lohrey, 1997) * ''Corfu'' (2001)

Autobiography

* ''A Mother's Disgrace'' (1994) * ''Arabesques : A Tale of Double Lives '' (2008) * ''What days are for'' (2014)

Non-fiction

* ''(and so forth)'' (1998) * ''Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev '' (2004) * ''As I Was Saying: A Collection of Musings'' (2012) * '' Arabesques: A Tale of Double Lives'' * ''The Pleasures of Leisure'' (2017) * ''The Time of Our Lives: Growing Older Well'' (2020)

Edited

* ''Australian Gay and Lesbian Writing: An Anthology'' (1993) * ''Picador New Writing'' (1993) * ''Speaking Their Minds: Intellectuals and the Public Culture in Australia'' (1998) * ''The Best Australian Essays 2004'' (2004) * ''The Best Australian Essays 2005'' (2005)

Awards and nominations

* NBC Banjo Awards, NBC Banjo Award for Non-Fiction, 1994: ''A Mother's Disgrace'' - shortlisted * Booksellers Choice Award, 1996: ''Night Letters : A Journey Through Switzerland and Italy Edited and Annotated by Igor Miazmov'' - joint winner * Australian Literature Society Gold Medal, 1997: ''Night Letters: A Journey Through Switzerland and Italy Edited and Annotated by Igor Miazmov'' - winner *

Colin Roderick Award The Colin Roderick Award is presented annually by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at Queensland's James Cook University for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life". It was first presente ...

, 1998: ''(And So Forth)'' - winner * Waverley Library Award for Literature, 2005: ''Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev'' - shortlisted * Victorian Premier's Literary Award, The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction, 2005: ''Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev'' - 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, t ...

, Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction, 2005: ''Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev'' - shortlisted * Margaret Scott Prize, 2007: ''Twilight of Love : Travels with Turgenev'' - winner * Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, 2022

Appearances

Robert Dessaix was on the program to appear in an event at the 2017 Brisbane Writers Festival in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. Dessaix's "The Pleasures of Leisure" appeared in the New South Wales Higher School Certificate English Examination on 18 October 2018. In the form of an edited nonfiction extract, it served as the last of three "unseen" texts in Section I of the first paper. The paper was taken by students of the English (Standard) and English (Advanced) HSC Courses studying the common "Discovery" module prescribed by the NSW Education Standards Authority (formerly known as the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW).

References

External links

*

Transcript of interview with Ramona Koval about "Arabesques" on The Book Show on ABC Radio National, 7 October 2008.
Robert Dessaix's Australian Literary Management page

Literary Encyclopedia entry on Robert Dessaix

A profile and bibliography from the Brisbane Writers Festival 2004 including his sessions there

Mitchell Library Collection of the Papers of Robert Dessaix's ''A Mother's Disgrace''

Mitchell Library Collection of the Papers of Robert Dessaix's ''Night Letters''

about his personal language K
Interview with Dessaix by Phil Lecks

* ttp://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/stories/2006/1796141.htm Robert Dessaix - public intellectuals in Australia':''interview with Phillip Adams, Late Night Live, ABC Radio National'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Dessaix, Robert 1944 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Writers from Sydney LGBT memoirists People educated at North Sydney Boys High School Australian LGBT novelists ALS Gold Medal winners 21st-century Australian male writers Journalists from Sydney