Who is David Malouf?
David Malouf is an Australian novelist and poet, born in Brisbane in 1934, known for Remembering Babylon, Johnno and An Imaginary Life. Remembering Babylon won the first International Dublin Literary Award in 1996.
Malouf grew up in Brisbane, the son of a Lebanese Christian father and an English-born mother. His first novel, Johnno, published in 1975, is a semi-autobiographical story about growing up in wartime Brisbane.
Remembering Babylon, published in 1993, tells the story of Gemmy Fairley, a young English castaway raised by Aboriginal people in Queensland, who returns to live among settlers in the 1840s. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
Poetry and prose
Malouf's writing is known for its lyrical language and its focus on landscape, memory and identity. He has published many poetry collections, short stories and essays, including the Boyer Lectures, A Spirit of Play.
His novel Ransom retells a scene from Homer's Iliad, in which King Priam asks Achilles for the body of his son Hector.
Malouf lived in Italy for some years before returning to Sydney. He is regarded as one of Australia's most important living writers and has won the Miles Franklin Award and the Neustadt International Prize for Literature.
Did You Know?
Malouf also wrote the libretto for the opera Voss, based on Patrick White's novel.