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Photo courtesy of KiLN.
Jared Thomas Jared Thomas i(A36264 works by)
Born: Established: 1976 Port Augusta, Port Augusta area, Mid North South Australia, South Australia, ;
Gender: Male
Heritage: Aboriginal Nukunu / Nuguna ; Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Ngadjuri ; Scottish ; Irish
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BiographyHistory

Jared Thomas is an Indigenous author, playwright, poet, and academic. He grew up in Port Augusta on Nukunu country, and his mother's Aboriginal family came from Winton, Queensland.

Thomas holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing, and a Masters in Creative Writing from Adelaide University. He has been a freelance journalist, film script editor, and writer, and since, 2006 has lectured in communications, film, literature, and art at the University of South Australia. He has also worked as the Manager of the Indigenous Arts and Culture Division of Arts, South Australia, and has coordinated Nukunu Peoples Council cultural heritage, language, and arts projects.

His first play 'Flash Red Ford' toured Uganda and Kenya in 1999, performed by a Ugandan company. In 2002, his work 'Love, Land and Money' was performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival. At this time, Thomas began working as Manager of Indigenous Arts and Culture, a role in which he advocated and supported the development and aspirations of South Australian Aboriginal artists.

As well as being a playwright, Thomas began to develop his skills 'as a fiction writer with several short stories and poems being published in anthologies.' (Heiss and Minter 2009). His first novel Sweet Guy published by IAD Press was shorted listed for both the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the Festival Awards for Literature, South Australia.With his forthcoming novel Calypso Summer, Thomas was awarded the Kuril Dhagun Indigenous Writing Fellowship in 2013.

Exhibitions

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Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Uncle Xbox Uncle Xbox : Getting Dusty Broome : Magabala Books , 2023 25540281 2023 single work children's fiction children's ''Nooooo,' I yelled and then Mum ran into the room in panic. 'What is it, what is it?!' she yelled, shaking me by the shoulder. 'Mum, Marcus took the Xbox,' I cried. 'Good!' Mum said, 'Maybe now you can help out with the chores a bit more.' A coming-of-age story for young gamers, that offers gentle insights into growing up, family and finding your place in a digital world. Or not. Dusty spends a lot of time playing games online, and usually with his stepdad, Marcus. One Saturday morning, Marcus loads his things into his car and leaves. He takes his Xbox. Dusty is determined to buy an Xbox of his own and tries odd jobs that don't quite work out. That is until cool Uncle Rick turns up. Uncle Rick introduces Dusty to surfing and teaches him about culture and Country. Dusty swiftly discovers that there is more to life than gaming.' 

(Publication summary)

2024 CBCA Book of the Year Awards Notable Book Younger Readers
2023 shortlisted Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Eight to 10 Years
y separately published work icon My Spare Heart Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2022 24389635 2022 single work novel young adult

'Seventeen-year-old Phoebe's life is turned upside down when she moves from the city to the country to live with her dad in this powerful and uplifting story about family breakdowns, facing truths and finding balance.

I mean, Mum didn't drink that much. All of my friends' parents loved their champagne or whatever. Everyone drank in The Village, too. I'd only been there for about a month and there'd already been five wine and food festivals. Mum's drinking wasn't a big deal. Right?

'Phoebe's non-Indigenous mother, a busy event manager, and her father, an Aboriginal man and uni lecturer, have split up and she's moved to sleepy old Willunga with him and his new health-obsessed girlfriend. It's only a few kilometres from Phoebe's old friends and the city, but it feels like another world.

'Her new school is full of hippies, but some of the kids are cool and the local basketball team is tight, and before long Phoebe's fitting in. But as her mum becomes increasingly unreliable, Phoebe's grades begin to suffer, her place on the basketball team is under threat and her worries spiral out of control.

'Phoebe can't tell her friends and is worried her dad will get angry, but pretending everything is fine is breaking her heart. How can she help her mum without tearing her family apart?'  (Publication summary)

2023 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards Griffith University Young Adult Book Award
2023 longlisted APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Young Adult Book designed by Jo Hunt.
2023 highly commended Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Prize for Writing for Young Adults
y separately published work icon Patty Hits the Court : Game Day! Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2017 11460099 2017 single work children's fiction children's

'Sport-mad Patty Mills is a star on the footy field, an ace at athletics, a ripper at rugby.
So when he tries out for basketball, it should be a breeze . . .
Patty expects to be a great basketballer straight away, just like his uncle Danny. But he soon discovers there's whole lot more to the game than just shooting hoops.
He's got a lot to learn, on and off the court - and it's going to take plenty of practice.
Will he and his school team be good enough to get into the finals?' (Synopsis)

2018 shortlisted Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Awards Indigenous Children
Last amended 25 Aug 2023 12:23:52
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