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David Foster David Foster i(A32857 works by) (a.k.a. D. M. Foster; David Manning Foster)
Born: Established: 1944 Katoomba, Blue Mountains, Sydney, New South Wales, ;
Gender: Male
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BiographyHistory

Born in the Blue Mountains to radio comedian parents, David Manning Foster studied Science at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1967 with the University Medal for Chemistry. Three years later he received his doctorate in inorganic chemistry from the Australian National University, and spent a year as a Fellow of the National Institute of Health in the United States in 1970. Foster then worked as a senior research scientist at the Department of Medicine, University of Sydney, 1971-1972, before retiring to begin writing full-time. He has also worked as a truck driver, postal worker, labourer, prawn trawler crewman, drummer and swimming pool manager.

His novels are satirical, frequently farcical and offer a cynical view of contemporary Australian culture and its postcolonial and imperial foundations. Nine of his novels have been nominated for the Miles Franklin Award and he has won many other prestigious prizes for his novels and poetry. A double black-belt in tae kwon do, Foster is an avid reader of classical literature; an influence clearly discernible in the mythical and literary allusions that can be found in much of his work.

Foster is the father of Zoe Foster.

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Sons of the Rumour Pymble : Pan Macmillan Picador , 2009 Z1641542 2009 single work novel

'Sons of the Rumour is nothing short of a dazzling and genre-defying work of genius. Foster retells the tale of the legendary eighth-century King Shahrban of Persia who, furious at his wife's infidelity, has decided to marry and then behead a fresh virgin every day. But then the king meets Scheherazade, a beauty of such wiles and storytelling gifts she manages to entertain the him for 1001 nights, staving off death for both herself and her countrywomen. In the process, she also bears him three sons, wisely educates him in morality and kindness, and eventually convinces him to take her as his lawful wife.

'Intersecting with the historical tale is the story of Al Morrisey - a middle-aged, Anglo-Irish, former jazz-drumming everyman, on the run from a failed marriage, and cursed with Freudian daydreams of his mother and peculiar nightmares of all things Persian - as he vainly attempts to reconcile the past with the present and reclaim some of his youthful vigour.

'Ingeniously manipulating the frame tale of the Arabian Nights, and utilising all his narrative gifts of adventurous satire, David Foster has produced a work of fiction like no other.' (From the publisher's website.)
2010 longlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
y separately published work icon In the New Country London : Fourth Estate , 1999 Z114128 1999 single work novel satire
1999 joint winner FAW Australian Literature Award
1999 winner The Courier-Mail Book of the Year Award
y separately published work icon The Glade Within the Grove Milsons Point : Random House , 1996 Z335062 1996 single work novel satire
1996 shortlisted NBC Banjo Awards — NBC Banjo Award for Fiction
1998 shortlisted International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award — Single Work of Fiction
1996 shortlisted The Age Book of the Year Award — Fiction Prize
1996 winner James Joyce Foundation Suspended Sentence Award
1997 winner Miles Franklin Literary Award
VIEW ALL AWARDS
Last amended 19 Jun 2012 13:48:55
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