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Anthony Hill Anthony Hill i(A31531 works by) (a.k.a. Tony Hill)
Born: Established: 1942 Melbourne, Victoria, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Anthony Hill was born in Melbourne in 1942. He became a newspaper journalist before moving with his family to a small country town in New South Wales where they ran an antiques shop. This experience formed the basis of his first two books, The Bunburyists and Antique Furniture in Australia.

After moving to Canberra, Hill was a speech writer for the Governor-General for ten years, but retired to concentrate full time on his own writing. He has produced a number of books for children, young adults and adults including his work of non-fiction Animal Heroes (2005). Hill has travelled to the Gallipoli peninsula and the battle fields of the First World War; these travels underscore much of his writing in the award winning book Soldier Boy (2002).

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2012 recipient ACT Arts Grant to assist with costs of writing and researching a book, in 2012 - $25,000
2005 Australia Council Literature Board Grants Grants for Established Writers $50,000 for young adult literature.

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Last Convict Melbourne : Penguin Random House Australia , 2020 18573245 2020 single work novel historical fiction

''It's a good story, Samuel. You're a piece of living history.'

'Oxford 1863: Young Samuel Speed sets a barley stack alight in the hope it will earn him a bed in prison for the night. He wants nothing more than a morsel of food in his belly and a warm place to sleep off the streets. What he receives is a sentence of seven years' servitude, to be served half a world away in the penal colony of Fremantle, Western Australia.

'When Samuel boards the transport ship Belgravia, he is stripped of his clothing and even his name, and given regulations of when to rise, eat, clean and sleep. On arrival at Fremantle Prison, hard labour is added to the mix and he wonders if life can get any worse. The only solace he finds is a love of reading, which allows the likes of Tom Sawyer and Oliver Twist to become his lifelong friends.

'Samuel is granted a ticket of leave in 1867 and full freedom in 1871, but what sort of life can a man forge for himself in the colony, with no skills, no money and no family? Will it be the beginning of the life he has always dreamed of, or do some sentences truly never end?

'A colourful recreation of the life and times of the last known convict to be sent to Australia, The Last Convict is a moving study of old age and loneliness, as one social outcast finds meaning in his impoverished life through the power of literature. Meticulously researched and brilliantly woven into an engaging fictional account, it is an unforgettable story by an award-winning writer and historian.' (Publication summary)

2021 longlisted HNSA Historical Novel Prize Adult
y separately published work icon Captain Cook's Apprentice Camberwell : Penguin , 2008 Z1529282 2008 single work novel young adult historical fiction

'A fictional recreation of one of the greatest voyages of discovery ever made, by award-winning author Anthony Hill.

'The enthralling story of Captain Cook's voyage to Australia, as seen through the eager eyes of a cabin boy.

'When young Isaac Manley sailed on the Endeavour from England in 1768, no one on board knew if a mysterious southern continent existed in the vast Pacific Ocean. It would be a voyage full of uncertainties and terrors.

'During the course of the three-year journey, Isaac’s eyes are opened to all the brutal realities of life at sea – floggings, storms, press-gangs, the deaths of fellow crewmen, and violent clashes on distant shores.

'Yet Isaac also experiences the tropical beauty of Tahiti, where he becomes enchanted with a beautiful Tahitian girl. He sees the wonders of New Zealand, and he is there when the men of Endeavour first glimpse the east coast of Australia, anchor in Botany Bay, and run aground on the Great Barrier Reef.

'Acclaimed and award-winning historical novelist Anthony Hill brings to life this landmark voyage with warmth, insight and vivid detail in this exciting and enlightening tale of adventure and discovery. ' (Publication summary)

2009 winner New South Wales Premier's History Prize New South Wales History Prize Young People's History Prize
y separately published work icon Lucy's Cat and the Rainbow Birds Camberwell : Puffin , 2007 Z1353402 2007 single work picture book children's

A young girl works through various attempts to stop her cat from feasting on the rainbow birds in the garden.

2008 shortlisted KOALA Awards Picture Book
2008 shortlisted The Wilderness Society Environment Award for Children's Literature Picture Fiction
Last amended 19 Dec 2014 11:14:55
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