ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tom Keneally

Born in Sydney in 1935, he is one of our most acclaimed authors, shortlisted for the Booker Prize four times. He won it in 1982 with Schindler’s Ark, later transformed into Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning movie, Schindler’s List. Keneally studied for the Catholic priesthood after school, but abandoned his vocation in 1960, turning to teaching and writing. He has written more than 30 novels, several works of non-fiction and poetry, and has a passion for the written word. “Writing’s a mad business, but an addiction,” he tells The Weekly. “I can’t believe that I’m allowed to get away with it, to rejoice in its highs, endure its lows.” His next project is “about the life of a 42,000-year-old male, homo sapiens, who lived all that time ago in a human community on the shores of Lake Mungo. We’ll have to see how it turns out,” he says, laughing.