Matthew Kneale (International) assertion Matthew Kneale i(A6197 works by)
Born: Established: 1960 London,
c
England,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe, ;
Gender: Male
Visitor assertion
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

English novelist Matthew Kneale, the son of the screenwriter Nigel Kneale and children's author Judith Kerr, studied history at Magdalen College, Oxford. His first novel Whore Banquets won a Somerset Maugham award. His second novel was Inside Rose's Kingdom and his third novel, Sweet Thames won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. English Passengers, his fourth novel ,was shortlisted for the 2000 Booker Prize; this is the only work by Matthew Kneale to that date with an Australian setting.

Kneale visited Tasmania to research English Passengers. In an interview with Sean McDonald Kneale says, 'I'd never been to Tasmania till I researched this book, when I spent a few wonderful weeks there, reading in the Hobart library, walking across the mountains of the center and visiting the vital places, such as Flinders Island.'

(http://www.randomhouse.com/boldtype/0400/kneale/interview.html )

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon English Passengers New York (City) : Talese , 2000 Z375635 2000 single work novel historical fiction

In 1857 when Captain Illiam Quillian Kewley and his band of rum smugglers from the Isle of Man have most of their contraband confiscated by British Customs, they are forced to put their ship up for charter. The only takers are two eccentric Englishmen who want to embark for the other side of the globe. The Reverend Geoffrey Wilson believes the Garden of Eden was on the island of Tasmania. His traveling partner, Dr. Thomas Potter, unbeknownst to Wilson, is developing a sinister thesis about the races of men.

Meanwhile, an aboriginal in Tasmania named Peevay recounts his people’s struggles against the invading British, a story that begins in 1824, moves into the present with approach of the English passengers in 1857, and extends into the future in 1870. These characters and many others come together in a storm of voices that vividly bring a past age to life.

(Source: Penguin, 2001)
2000 winner Costa Book Awards — Novel
2001 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award
VIEW ALL AWARDS
Last amended 14 May 2013 11:32:21
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X