Who is Thomas Keneally?
Thomas Keneally is an Australian novelist, born in Sydney in 1935, best known for Schindler's Ark, which won the Booker Prize in 1982 and inspired Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List.
Keneally studied for the Catholic priesthood but left before ordination and became a teacher and writer. His novel Bring Larks and Heroes won the Miles Franklin Award in 1967, and Three Cheers for the Paraclete won it again in 1968.
His 1972 novel The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, based on a real case, explores racism and violence against Aboriginal people in colonial New South Wales. It was made into a film by Fred Schepisi.
Schindler's Ark
Keneally learned the story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved more than a thousand Jews during the Holocaust, from Holocaust survivor Leopold Page, whom he met in a Los Angeles luggage shop in 1980.
Schindler's Ark won the Booker Prize, and Spielberg's 1993 film won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Keneally has written dozens of novels and histories and was a founding chair of the Australian Republic Movement. He continues to write well into his eighties.
Did You Know?
Keneally was named a National Living Treasure by the National Trust.