Les Carlyon Les Carlyon i(A17849 works by) (a.k.a. L. A. Carlyon; Leslie Allen Carlyon)
Born: Established: 1942 Elmore, Huntly - Elmore area, Bendigo area, Ballarat - Bendigo area, Victoria, ; Died: Ceased: 4 Mar 2019
Gender: Male
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1 2 y separately published work icon A Life in Words : Collected Writings from Gallipoli to the Melbourne Cup Les Carlyon , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2021 21842597 2021 selected work essay column

'The collected writing of one of Australia's most admired authors and journalists, Les Carlyon.

''Les Carlyon has died, and Australia has lost one of its greatest wordsmiths.' Greg Baum, The Age

''He's been called Australia's Damon Runyon, but that tag is far too limiting to do him justice. Certainly his turf stories are usually character-driven gems. But read him on Anzac Cove, or Bradman, or Ted Whitten, or any part of the essence of this country. He writes with gritty elegance.' Harry Gordon

'Les Carlyon was one of Australia's greatest journalists and writers. His career in newspapers was stellar, becoming editor of The Age at 33, and going on to become editor in chief of The Herald & Weekly Times. But he was always more about the written word than about management, winning two Walkley Awards and the coveted Graham Perkin Journalist of the Year Award across a career where he covered everything from politics to horse racing.

'Yet most Australians will know him as an author, writing books that gave us the very essence of our history and our culture - whether in the trenches of the Western Front, or in the betting ring at Flemington. His epic account of the Gallipoli campaign, Gallipoli (2001), was as ground-breaking in its day as Robert Hughes' The Fatal Shore, combining incredible research and an ability to capture the human essence with a style that was distinctively his own. Gallipoli went on to sell over 250,000 copies in Australia, and his follow-up book The Great War (2006) won the Prime Ministers Prize for History, and was the 2007 ABIA Book of the Year. The Master (2012), an intimate portrait of Bart Cummings, cemented Les's place as Australia's greatest ever horse racing writer.

'From Don Bradman to Paul Keating, from Flemington to Flanders, from Henry Lawson to Clive James, A Life in Words is a collection of Les's very best writing, taken from across his career.' (Publication summary)

1 On a Writer's Trail Les Carlyon , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 12-13 March 2016; (p. 20)

— Review of Our Man Elsewhere : In Search of Alan Moorehead Thornton McCamish , 2016 single work biography
1 Mugged by Nostalgia on the Racetrack Les Carlyon , 2015 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26-27 September 2015; (p. 30)

— Review of Something for the Pain : A Memoir of the Turf Gerald Murnane , 2015 single work autobiography
1 Long Live the King Les Carlyon , 2015 single work obituary (for Bart Cummings )
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 31 August 2015; (p. 6-7)
'Here's what you won't see again. You won't see this man with a grey mane and rearing eyebrows sauntering down the steps of the grandstand on Melbourne Cup day...'
1 Books of the Year Graeme Blundell , Helen Garner , Jaya Savige , Anna Funder , Delia Falconer , Peter Craven , J. M. Coetzee , Stella Clarke , Les Carlyon , James Bradley , Jane Gleeson-White , Susan Johnson , James Ley , Ashley Hay , Leigh Sales , Alex Miller , Ramona Koval , Evelyn Juers , Peter Pierce , Nicolas Rothwell , Colm Toibin , Kirsten Tranter , Brenda Walker , Maria Tumarkin , Geordie Williamson , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 22-23 December 2012; (p. 14-15)
Leading writers and critics share their best reads for 2012.
1 How True-Blue Stayer Became Humble Master Les Carlyon , 2011 extract biography (The Master : A Personal Portrait of Bart Cummings)
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 23 October 2011; (p. 61)
1 Bart's Boy Les Carlyon , 2011 extract biography (The Master : A Personal Portrait of Bart Cummings)
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 22 - 23 October 2011; (p. 14-16, 19)
1 6 y separately published work icon The Master : A Personal Portrait of Bart Cummings Les Carlyon , Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia , 2011 Z1818295 2011 single work biography
1 Foreword to the Third Edition Les Carlyon , 2010 single work column
— Appears in: The Anzac Book 2010; (p. vii-x)
1 Orwell in a Cheap Blue Suit Les Carlyon , 2010 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , February vol. 5 no. 1 2010; (p. 20-21)

— Review of The Blaze of Obscurity : Unreliable Memoirs V Clive James , 2009 single work autobiography ; The Revolt of the Pendulum Clive James , 2009 selected work essay criticism review correspondence
1 The Great War Les Carlyon , 2008 single work prose
— Appears in: True Blue? : On Being Australian 2008; (p. 66-67)
1 1 Thoroughbreds, Lowbreds and the Closed Society Les Carlyon , 2007 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , October vol. 2 no. 9 2007; (p. 18-20)

— Review of The Boss Glen Boss , 2007 single work autobiography ; A Year on the Punt : One City Punter, Twenty Country Meetings and a Motza of Racing Gems John Ellicott , 2007 single work prose
1 Re-Reading for Pleasure Les Carlyon , 2007 single work column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 January 2007; (p. 2)
Carlyon nominates authors he enjoys reading, noting particulary Peter Ryan and Clive James (qq.v.)
1 Read All About It Les Carlyon , 2006 single work column
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 24 January vol. 124 no. 6504 2006; (p. 21-23)
1 Farewell to a Warrior Les Carlyon , 2004 single work biography
— Appears in: The Best Australian Profiles 2004; (p. 223-228)
1 The Lore Makers Les Carlyon , 2002 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 5 March vol. 120 no. 6314 2002; (p. 32-36) The Best Australian Essays 2003 2003; (p. 368-375)
1 Elegantly Weighted Les Carlyon , 2001-2002 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 18 December - 8 January vol. 119 no. 6306 2001-2002; (p. 32)

— Review of Even as We Speak : New Essays 1993-2001 Clive James , 2001 selected work essay review
1 The Fire of One Les Carlyon , 2001 single work autobiography
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 4 December vol. 119 no. 6304 2001; (p. 36-38)
1 Be Treasonable Les Carlyon , 1997 single work column
— Appears in: The Sunday Age , 21 December 1997; (p. 8)
Profiles the Republican Movement in Australia with Henry Lawson's A Song of the Republic in 1887
1 The Hand that Made Even the Holocaust Boring Les Carlyon , 1995 single work column
— Appears in: The Age , 31 August 1995; (p. 15)
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