Peter Carey was born in 1943, in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, Australia.
His parents, who had a General Motors dealership, sent him to Geelong Grammar
School, one of the leading private schools, "where the children of Australia's
Best Families all spoke with English accents". He studied briefly at Monash
University, but left after failing his first year science exams, after which he
left to work as a copyrighter in advertisign agencies in Melbourne and London.
He started to read passionately, especially the work of Joyce, Beckett, Kafka
and Faulkner, and in 1964 he began to write. He moved to Sydney in 1974
where he continued copyrighting. His first collection of surreal short
stories, War Crimes, was published in 1979, followed by The Fat Man in
History in 1980.
He then wrote three novels, Bliss (1981), about an advertising executive
who has an out-of-body experience; Illywhacker (1985), a huge vision of
Australian history told through the memoirs of a 100-year old confidence man or
"illywhacker"; and Oscar and Lucinda (1988), a complex symbolic tale of
the arrival of Christianity in Australia.
In 1990/1991 he moved to New York, with his wife, Alison Summers, a theater
director, and his son, to teach creative writing at University of New York.
The Tax Inspector was published in 1991, then came The Unusual Life of
Tristran Smith (1994); Jack Maggs (1997), True History of the
Kelly Gang (2001), My Life as a Fake (2003) and Theft (2006).
He has also written the film script for Until the End of the World
(1992), and co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of Bliss
(1985). Oscar and Lucinda was also adapted for film in 1997, with a
screenplay written by Laura Jones.
In addition to his adult fiction, he has written a number of other books
including The Big Bazoohley (for children, 1995) and 30 Days in
Sydney: A Wildly Distorted Account (non-fiction, 2001) and Wrong about
Japan (2005), a memoir/travelogue of his journey through Japan with his son
Charley and their attempts to understand the Japanese culture and heritage.
He still lives in New York, and still teaches Creative Writing at New York
University. He has been awarded three honorary degrees and is a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Literature, the Australian Academy of Humanities and the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Prizes & Awards (partial list)
1979 Miles Franklin Award (Australia) War Crimes
1980 New South Wales Premier's Literary Award War Crimes
1981 Miles Franklin Award (Australia) Bliss
1982 National Book Council Award (Australia) Bliss
1982 New South Wales Premier's Literary AwardBliss
1985 Book Council Award (Australia)Illywhacker
1985 Booker Prize for Fiction (shortlist)
Illywhacker
1985 The Age Book of the Year Award Illywhacker
1986 Ditmar Award for Best Australian Science Fiction Novel
Illywhacker
1986 Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction Illywhacker
1986 Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Australia) Illywhacker
1986 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel (shortlist) Illywhacker
1988 Book Council Award (Australia) Oscar and Lucinda
1988 Booker Prize for Fiction Oscar and Lucinda
1989 Miles Franklin Award (Australia) Oscar and Lucinda
1994 The Age Book of the Year Award The Unusual Life of Tristran
Smith
1997 James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) (shortlist)
Jack Maggs
1997 The Age Book of the Year Award Jack Maggs
1998 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) Jack
Maggs
1998 Miles Franklin Award (Australia) Jack Maggs
2001 Booker Prize for Fiction True History of the Kelly Gang
2001 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) True
History of the Kelly Gang
2001 Miles Franklin Award (Australia) (shortlist) True History
of the Kelly Gang
2001 Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction True History of the Kelly
Gang
Bibliography War Crimes (1979) The Fat Man in History (1980) Bliss (1981) Illywhacker (1985) Oscar and Lucinda (1988) The Tax Inspector (1991) The Unusual Life of Tristran Smith (1994) Collected Stories (1995) The Big Bazoohley (1995) Jack Maggs (1997) 30 Days in Sydney: A Wildly Distorted Account (2001) True History of the Kelly Gang (2001) My Life as a Fake (2003) Wrong about Japan (2005) Theft: A Love Story (2006) His Illegal Self (2008)
This biography was last updated on 01/12/2008.
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