1. Thomas Keneally is best known for his historical fiction novel Schindler's Ark, the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, which won the Booker Prize in 1982.
23 Facts About Thomas Keneally
1. 2.
Thomas Keneally studied Honours English for his Leaving Certificate in 1952, under Brother James Athanasius McGlade, and won a Commonwealth scholarship.
3.
Thomas Keneally then entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly, to train as a Catholic priest.
4.
Thomas Keneally worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist and was a lecturer at the University of New England.
5.
Thomas Keneally is particularly famed for his Schindler's Ark, the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List.
6.
Thomas Keneally had already been shortlisted for the Booker three times prior to that: 1972 for The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, 1975 for Gossip from the Forest, and 1979 for Confederates.
7.
Thomas Keneally had a small role in Fred Schepisi's The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and played Father Marshall in the award-winning film The Devil's Playground, by Schepisi.
8.
Thomas Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council from 1985 to 1988 and President of the National Book Council from 1985 to 1989.
9.
Thomas Keneally was a visiting professor at the University of California, Irvine where he taught the graduate fiction workshop for one quarter in 1985.
10.
The Tom Thomas Keneally Centre opened in August 2011 at the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, housing Thomas Keneally's books and memorabilia.
11.
Thomas Keneally is an ambassador of the Asylum Seekers Centre, a not-for-profit that provides personal and practical support to people seeking asylum in Australia.
12.
Thomas Keneally married Judy Martin, then a nurse, in 1965, and they had two daughters, Margaret and Jane.
13.
Thomas Keneally was the founding chairman of the Australian Republic Movement and published a book on the subject Our Republic in 1993.
14.
Thomas Keneally is a keen supporter of rugby league football, in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL.
15.
Thomas Keneally made an appearance in the 2007 rugby league drama film The Final Winter.
16.
Thomas Keneally is a former Premier of New South Wales and Sky News Australia newscaster.
17.
Thomas Keneally wrote the Booker Prize-winning novel in 1982, inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor.
18.
In 1980, Thomas Keneally met Pfefferberg in the latter's shop, and learning that he was a novelist, Pfefferberg showed him his extensive files on Oskar Schindler, including the original list itself.
19.
Thomas Keneally was interested, and Pfefferberg became an advisor for the book, accompanying Thomas Keneally to Poland where they visited Krakow and the sites associated with the Schindler story.
20.
Thomas Keneally's meeting with Pfefferberg and their research tours are detailed in Searching for Schindler: A Memoir.
21.
Some Pfefferberg documents that inspired Thomas Keneally are now housed in the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney.
22.
Thomas Keneally has stated that he was once offered the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and that he refused it.
23.
Thomas Keneally has been awarded honorary doctorates including one from the National University of Ireland.