View source for Thomas Keneally

{{short description|Australian novelist (born 1935)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| honorific_suffix = [[Officer of the Order of Australia|AO]]
| name        = Thomas Keneally
| image       = Thomas Keneally Festival Cine Sidney.jpg
| caption     = Keneally in 2012
| image_size  =
| pseudonym   =
| birth_name  = Thomas Michael Keneally
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1935|10|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| occupation  = Novelist
| period      =
| subject     =
| movement    =
| influences  =
| influenced  =
| signature   =
| website     =
| awards      = [[Booker Prize]]
| module      = {{listen|pos=center|embed=yes|filename=Thomas Keneally BBC Radio4 Bookclub 2 Dec 2007 b008d2x2.flac|title={{center|Thomas Keneally's voice}}|type=speech|description={{center|Recorded December 2007 from the BBC Radio 4 programme ''[[Bookclub (radio)|Bookclub]]''}}}}
| spouse      = Judy Martin (m. 1965)
| children    = 2
}}

'''Thomas Michael Keneally''' (born 7 October 1935)<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Keneally |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Keneally |access-date=2024-02-16 |website=Britannica}}</ref> is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He 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. The book would later be adapted into [[Steven Spielberg]]'s 1993 film ''[[Schindler's List]]'', which won seven [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]].

== Early life ==
Both Keneally's parents (Edmund Thomas Keneally and Elsie Margaret Coyle) were born to [[Irish Australians|Irish]] fathers in the timber and dairy town of [[Kempsey, New South Wales]], and although he was born in [[Sydney]], he too spent his early years in Kempsey.<ref name=ptint>{{cite web|title=Tom Keneally|url=http://www.abc.net.au/talkingheads/txt/s1989104.htm|website=[[Talking Heads (Australian TV series)|Talking Heads]]|publisher=ABC|access-date=27 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319073712/http://www.abc.net.au/talkingheads/txt/s1989104.htm |archive-date=19 March 2011|date=30 July 2007}}</ref> His father, Edmund Thomas Keneally, flew for the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] in [[World War II]], then returned to work in a small business in Sydney. By 1942, the family had moved to 7 Loftus Crescent, [[Homebush]], a suburb in the [[Inner West]] of Sydney and Keneally was enrolled at Christian Brothers [[St Patrick's College, Strathfield]]. Shortly after, his brother John was born. Keneally studied Honours English for his [[Leaving Certificate]] in 1952, under Brother James Athanasius McGlade, and won a Commonwealth scholarship.<ref name = "NLA">{{cite web|url=https://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/thomaskeneally.pdf|title=Thomas Keneally, A Celebration|editor=Peter Pierce|publisher=Friends of the National Library of Australia|place=Canberra, Australia|date=2006|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

Keneally then entered [[St Patrick's Seminary]], [[Manly, New South Wales|Manly]], to train as a [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Catholic priest]]. Although he was ordained as a deacon while at the seminary, after six years there he left in a state of depression and without ordination in the priesthood. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist and was a lecturer at the [[University of New England, Australia|University of New England]] (1968–70).<ref name = "NLA" />

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use his real first name.<ref name=ptint/>

==Career==
Keneally's first story was published in ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' magazine in 1962 under the pseudonym Bernard Coyle.<ref name="NLA" /> By February 2014, he had written over 50 books, including 30 novels.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Guardian|date= 17 February 2014|last=Marks|first=Kathy|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/australia-culture-blog/2014/feb/18/thomas-keneally-we-should-apologise-ghosts-wwi-soldiers-wronged|title=Thomas Keneally: 'I hope no one says Australia was born at Gallipoli' |publisher=Guardian News and Media Ltd|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref> He is particularly famed for his ''[[Schindler's Ark]]'' (1982) (later republished as ''Schindler's List''), the first novel by an Australian to win the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film ''[[Schindler's List]]''. He 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''.<ref name="ABC">{{cite web|title=Q&A Panellist Tom Keneally|publisher=ABC|url=http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s2682193.htm|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref>

Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Premièred at London's [[Royal Court Theatre]], the play ''Our Country's Good'' by [[Timberlake Wertenbaker]] is based on Keneally's book ''[[The Playmaker (novel)|The Playmaker]]''. In it, convicts deported from Britain to the Empire's penal colony of Australia perform George Farquhar's Restoration comedy ''The Recruiting Officer'' set in the English town of Shrewsbury. Artistic Director [[Max Stafford-Clark]] wrote about his experiences of staging the plays in repertoire in his book ''Letters to George''. 

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in [[Fred Schepisi]]'s ''[[The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (film)|The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith]]'' (1978) (based on [[The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith|his own novel]]) and played Father Marshall in the award-winning film ''[[The Devil's Playground (1976 film)|The Devil's Playground]]'' (1976), also by Schepisi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/keneally.html|title=Interview – Thomas Keneally|work=januarymagazine.com}}</ref>

Keneally was a member of the Literature Board of the [[Australia Council for the Arts|Australia Council]] from 1985 to 1988 and President of the National Book Council from 1985 to 1989.<ref name="NLA" />

Keneally was a visiting professor at the [[University of California, Irvine]] (UCI) where he taught the graduate fiction workshop for one quarter in 1985. From 1991 to 1995, he was a visiting professor in the writing program at UCI.<ref>{{cite news|last=McClellan|first=Dennis|title=Keneally to Leave UCI for Home|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-26-ls-43251-story.html|access-date=29 April 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=26 September 1994}}</ref>

In 2006, Peter Pierce, Professor of Australian Literature, James Cook University, wrote:<ref name="NLA" />

{{quote|Keneally can sometimes seem the nearest that we have to a [[Honoré de Balzac|Balzac]] of our [[Australian literature|literature]]; he is in his own rich and idiosyncratic ways the author of an Australian 'human comedy'.}}

The Tom Keneally Centre opened in August 2011 at the [[Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts]], housing Keneally's books and memorabilia. The site is used for book launches, readings and writing classes.<ref name=smh20110724>{{Cite news
  | title = A library he calls his own
  | work = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
  | place = Australia
  | date = 24 July 2011
| url = http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/a-library-he-calls-his-own-20110723-1huil.html
  | access-date = 29 July 2011}}</ref>

Keneally is an ambassador of the [[Asylum Seeker Resource Centre|Asylum Seekers Centre]], a [[not-for-profit]] that provides personal and practical support to people seeking [[asylum in Australia]].<ref name="asylum-ambassador">{{cite web |title=Our ambassadors |url=https://asylumseekerscentre.org.au/about-us/our-ambassadors/ |website=asylumseekerscentre.org.au |publisher=Asylum Seekers Centre |access-date=13 December 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Keneally married Judy Martin, then a nurse, in 1965, and they had two daughters, [[Meg Keneally|Margaret]] and Jane.<ref>{{cite news|title=Interestingly enough … The life of Tom Keneally, and his women|last=Steggall|first=Stephany Evans|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/interestingly-enough--the-life-of-tom-keneally-and-his-women/news-story/f5e41eeea60f7c81e94f10e0a33573d1|newspaper=[[The Weekend Australian]]|date=26 September 2015|access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="NLA" />

Keneally was the founding chairman (1991–93) of the [[Australian Republic Movement]]<ref name="ABC" /> and published a book on the subject ''Our Republic'' in 1993. Several of his Republican essays appear on the website of the movement. He is also a keen supporter of [[rugby league]] football,<ref>{{cite book
  | author1 = Toby Creswell
  | author2 =Samantha Trenoweth
  | title = 1001 Australians You Should Know
  | publisher = Pluto Press
  | year = 2006
  | location = Australia
  | pages = 136
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=QqtinbjO0oEC&q=rugby
  | isbn = 1-86403-361-4}}
</ref> in particular the [[Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles]] club of the [[NRL]]. In 2004, he gave the sixth annual [[Tom Brock Lecture]].<ref>[http://www.sporthistory.org/TomBrocklect.htm Tom Brock Lecture] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218162918/http://www.sporthistory.org/TomBrocklect.htm |date=18 February 2011 }} at the Australian Society for Sports History's website</ref> He made an appearance in the 2007 rugby league drama film ''[[The Final Winter]]''.<ref>{{Cite news
  | last = FitzSimons
  | first = Peter|author-link=Peter FitzSimons
  | title = The Fitz Files
  | work = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]]
  | place = Australia
  | date = 20 October 2007
| url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/time-to-choose-between-a-bok-and-a-hard-place/2007/10/19/1192301041887.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap3
  | access-date = 2 October 2010}}</ref>

In March 2009, the [[Prime Minister of Australia]], [[Kevin Rudd]], gave an autographed copy of Keneally's biography ''Lincoln'' to President [[Barack Obama]] as a state gift.<ref name=age20090326>{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/obama-lauds-rudd-in-meeting-of-the-minds-20090325-9aip.html?page=-1|title=Obama lauds Rudd in 'meeting of the minds'|work=The Age|date=25 March 2009 }}</ref>

Keneally's nephew [[Ben Keneally|Ben]] is married to the former senior [[Australian Labor Party]] [[Australian Senate|Senator]], [[Kristina Keneally]]. She is also a former [[Premier of New South Wales]] and [[Sky News Australia]] newscaster.

== ''Schindler's Ark'' ==

<!-- This is a SUMMARY. Please don't add new information or details here, but instead at the main article [[Schindler's Ark]]! -->
{{Main article|Schindler's Ark}}

Keneally wrote the [[Booker Prize]]-winning novel in 1982, inspired by the efforts of [[Poldek Pfefferberg]], a [[Holocaust survivor]]. In 1980, Keneally met Pfefferberg in the latter's shop, and learning that Keneally was a novelist, Pfefferberg showed him his extensive files on [[Oskar Schindler]], including the original list itself.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/thomas-keneally-interview/|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=7 October 2015|last=Walton|first=James|title=Thomas Keneally: I wanted to be recognised by the Poms |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited |access-date=10 June 2017}}</ref> Keneally was interested, and Pfefferberg became an advisor for the book, accompanying Keneally to Poland where they visited Kraków and the sites associated with the Schindler story. Keneally dedicated ''Schindler's Ark'' to Pfefferberg: "who by zeal and persistence caused this book to be written." He said in an interview in 2007 that what attracted him to Oskar Schindler was that "it was the fact that you couldn't say where opportunism ended and altruism began. And I like the subversive fact that the spirit breatheth where it will. That is, that good will emerge from the most unlikely places".<ref name=ptint/> The book was later made into the movie ''[[Schindler's List]]'' (1993) directed by [[Steven Spielberg]], earning his first Best Director [[Academy Award|Oscar]]. Keneally's meeting with Pfefferberg and their research tours are detailed in the book ''Searching for Schindler: A Memoir''.<ref name="publishersweekly/9780385526173">{{cite web |title=Searching for Schindler: A Memoir by Thomas Keneally |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385526173 |website=[[publishersweekly.com]] |access-date=4 November 2025 |date=2008}}</ref><ref name="kirkusreviews/searching-for-schindler">{{cite web |title=Searching for Schindler |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/thomas-keneally/searching-for-schindler/ |website=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |access-date=4 November 2025 |language=en |date=Aug 15, 2008}}</ref>

In 1996,<ref name="jornada/a09n2esp">{{cite news |title=Hallan la lista de Schindler |url=http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/04/08/index.php?section=espectaculos&article=a09n2esp |access-date=4 November 2025 |work=[[La Jornada]] |agency=[[Reuters]] |date=8 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090412101724/http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/04/08/index.php?section=espectaculos&article=a09n2esp |archive-date=12 April 2009 |language=es-MX |quote=Las cajas con los documentos fue adquirido en 1996 por la biblioteca de Nueva Gales del Sur, en Sidney.}}</ref> the  [[State Library of New South Wales]], in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, purchased some of the Pfefferberg documents that inspired Keneally, from a private collector, and they are now housed there.<ref>{{cite news |title=Schindler's List found in Sydney |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7985004.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=6 April 2009 |access-date=28 March 2010}}</ref>

==Honours==
Keneally was elected a [[Royal Society of Literature|Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature]] in 1973.<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-09-01 |title=Keneally, Thomas |url=https://rsliterature.org/fellows/thomas-keneally/,%20https://rsliterature.org/fellows/thomas-keneally/ |access-date=2025-07-03 |website=Royal Society of Literature |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 1983, he was made an Officer of the [[Order of Australia]] (AO).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869812|title=It's an Honour – Honours – Search Australian Honours|work=itsanhonour.gov.au}}</ref> He is an [[Australian Living Treasure]]. Keneally has stated that he was once offered the title of [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]], and that he refused it. "I said I pitied any empire of which I was a commander".<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/sep/14/hollow-cloying-veneration-greeted-the-queens-death-now-history-calls-on-us-to-get-an-australian-head-of-state Keneally, Thomas. "Opinion: Hollow, cloying veneration greeted the Queen’s death. Now history calls on us to get an Australian head of state" ''The Guardian'' 13 September 2022]</ref>

In 2010 the Australian postal service issued a stamp in his honour.<ref>{{cite news |title=Australian writers honoured by stamps |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jan/21/stamps-australian-writers |newspaper=The Guardian |date=21 January 2010 |access-date=22 November 2023 |last1=Flood |first1=Alison }}</ref>

Keneally has been awarded honorary doctorates including one from the National University of Ireland.<ref name ="ABC" />

{| class="wikitable"
!Awards!!&nbsp;
|-
|rowspan=4| [[Booker Prize]]
| ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'', shortlisted 1972
|-
| ''Gossip from the Forest'', shortlisted 1975
|-
| ''Confederates'', shortlisted 1979
|-
| ''Schindler's Ark'', winner 1982
|-
|rowspan=4| [[Miles Franklin Award]]
| ''Bring Larks and Heroes'', winner 1967
|-
| ''Three Cheers for the Paraclete'', winner 1968
|-
| ''An Angel in Australia'', shortlisted 2003
|-
| ''The Widow and Her Hero'', longlisted 2008
|-
| [[Prime Minister's Literary Awards]]
| ''The Widow and Her Hero'', shortlisted 2008
|-
| [[New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards#Special Award|New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards]]
| Special Award, winner 2008
|-
|[[Helmerich Award]]
|Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, 2007
|-
|ARA Historical Novel Prize
| ''Corporal Hitler's pistol'', winner 2022<ref name=ARA >{{cite news |date=2022-10-20 |title=Celebrated author reveals why he is sharing $50,000 his prize money |language=en-AU |publisher=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-21/thomas-keneally-wins-ara-historical-novel-prize-for-new-book/101560270 |access-date=2023-01-16}}</ref>
|-
|}

== Bibliography ==
{{Incomplete list|date=October 2023}}

=== Novels ===
* ''[[The Place at Whitton]]'' (1964)
* ''[[The Fear (Keneally novel)|The Fear]]'' (1965) Rewritten in 1989 as ''By the Line''
* ''[[Bring Larks and Heroes]]'' (1967), winner of the [[Miles Franklin Award]], set in an unidentified British [[penal colony]]
* ''[[Three Cheers for the Paraclete]]'' (1968), winner of the [[Miles Franklin Award]], comic novel of a doubting priest
* ''[[The Survivor (Keneally novel)|The Survivor]]'' (1969), a survivor looks back on a disastrous [[Antarctic]] expedition
* ''[[A Dutiful Daughter]]'' (1971), Keneally's personal favourite
* ''[[The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith]]'' (1972), also filmed. Written through the eyes of an exploited [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal man]] who explodes in rage. Based on an actual incident. Keneally has said he would not now presume to write in the voice of an Aboriginal person, but would have written the story as seen by a white character.
* ''[[Blood Red, Sister Rose]]'' (1974), a novel based loosely on the life of [[Joan of Arc]]
* ''[[Moses the Lawgiver (novel)|Moses the Lawgiver]]'' (1975)
* ''[[Gossip from the Forest]]'' (1975), tells of the negotiation of the armistice that ended [[World War I]]
* ''[[Season in Purgatory]]'' (1976), love among [[Josip Broz Tito|Tito]]'s partisans in [[World War II]]
* ''[[A Victim of the Aurora]]'' (1977), a [[detective fiction|detective story]] set on an [[Antarctic]] expedition
* ''Ned Kelly and the City of the Bees'' (1978), a book for [[literature for children|children]]
* ''[[Passenger (Keneally novel)|Passenger]]'' (1979)
* ''[[Confederates (novel)|Confederates]]'' (1979), based on [[Stonewall Jackson]]'s army
* ''[[The Cut-Rate Kingdom]]'' (1980), Australia at war in 1942
* ''[[Schindler's Ark]]'' (1982), winner of the [[Booker Prize]], later released and filmed as ''[[Schindler's List]]''
* ''[[A Family Madness]]'' (1985)
* ''[[The Playmaker (novel)|The Playmaker]]'' (1987), prisoners perform a play in Australia in the 18th Century
* ''[[Act of Grace (novel)|Act of Grace]]'' (1985), (under the pseudonym William Coyle) Published as ''Firestorm'' in the US
* ''[[By the Line]]'' (1989)<ref group=lower-alpha>Revised version of ''The Fear'' (1965).</ref>
* ''[[Towards Asmara]]'' (1989), the conflict in [[Eritrea]]
* ''[[Flying Hero Class]]'' (1991), [[Palestinians]] hijack an aeroplane carrying an Aboriginal folk dance troupe
* ''[[Chief of Staff (novel)|Chief of Staff]]'' (1991), (under the pseudonym William Coyle)
* ''[[Woman of the Inner Sea]]'' (1992), Keneally retells a story once told him by a young woman that haunted his imagination
* ''[[Jacko (novel)|Jacko]]'' (1993), madness and television
* ''[[A River Town]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Bettany's Book]]'' (2000)
* ''[[An Angel in Australia]]'' (2000), also published as ''Office of Innocence''
* ''[[The Tyrant's Novel]]'' (2003), an Australian immigration detainee tells his story
* ''[[The Widow and Her Hero]]'' (2007), the effect of war on those left behind
* ''[[The People's Train]]'' (2009), a dissident escapes from Russia to Australia in 1911, only to return to fight in the revolution
* ''[[The Daughters of Mars]]'' (2012), two Australian sisters struggle to nurse soldiers horrifically wounded in World War I
* ''Shame and the Captives'' (2014), {{ISBN|147673464X}}, recounts the escape of Japanese prisoners of war in New South Wales during WWII
* ''Napoleon's Last Island'' (2015)
* ''Crimes of the Father'' (2016)
* ''Two Old Men Dying'' (2018)
* ''The Book of Science and Antiquities'' (2019)
* ''The Dickens Boy'' (2020)
* ''[[Corporal Hitler's Pistol]]'' (2021)
* {{cite book |last=Keneally |first=Tom |title=Fanatic Heart |date=2022-11-01 |publisher=Vintage Australia |isbn=978-0-14-377781-6 |location=Milsons Point, NSW |oclc=1333614618}}<ref group=lower-alpha>Interview: {{cite web |date=2022-11-25 |title=Fanatic Heart by Tom Keneally |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/nightlife/tom-keneally/101701512 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=ABC Radio |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref group=lower-alpha>Reviews: {{bulleted list|{{cite web |last=Fraser |first=Morag |date=2023-01-13 |title=Tom Keneally's sparkling new novel is a book for our times |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/keneally-s-moral-outrage-drives-a-story-with-resonance-for-today-20230105-p5cajv.html |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}|{{cite web |last=Sharrad |first=Paul |title=In Fanatic Heart, Tom Keneally revisits the tumultuous life of an Irish rebel |url=http://theconversation.com/in-fanatic-heart-tom-keneally-revisits-the-tumultuous-life-of-an-irish-rebel-194038 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=The Conversation |date=December 2022}}|{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=Ronan |date=2022-12-27 |title=Ronan McDonald reviews 'Fanatic Heart' by Tom Keneally |url=https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-online/current-issue/986-january-february-2023-no-450/9995-ronan-mcdonald-reviews-fanatic-heart-by-tom-keneally |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=[[Australian Book Review]] |language=en-GB}}|{{cite web |last=Mayer |first=Erich |date=2022-11-07 |title=Book review: Fanatic Heart, Tom Keneally |url=https://www.artshub.com.au/news/reviews/book-review-fanatic-heart-tom-keneally-2591907/ |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=ArtsHub Australia |language=en-AU}}|{{cite web |date=2022-11-11 |title=At 87, Thomas Keneally isn't done with history yet |url=https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/arts-and-culture/at-87-thomas-keneally-isn-t-done-with-history-yet-20221107-p5bw42 |access-date=2023-01-16 |website=Australian Financial Review}}}}</ref>

;The Monsarrat series, co-authored with [[Meg Keneally]]
* ''The Soldier's Curse'' (2016)
* ''The Unmourned'' (2017)
* ''The Power Game'' (2018)
* ''The Ink Stain'' (2019)

=== Non-fiction ===
* ''Outback'' (1983)
* ''Australia: Beyond the Dreamtime'' (1987)
* ''The Place Where Souls are Born: A Journey to the Southwest'' (1992)
* ''Now and in Time to Be: Ireland and the Irish'' (1992)
* ''Memoirs from a Young Republic'' (1993)
* ''The Utility Player: The Des Hasler Story'' (1993) Rugby league footballer [[Des Hasler]]
* ''Our Republic'' (1995)
* ''Homebush Boy: A Memoir'' (1995), autobiography
* ''The Great Shame'' (1998)
* {{cite journal <!--|author=Keneally, Thomas |author-mask=1--> |date=Summer 2000 |title=My father's Australia |journal=Granta |volume=70 |pages=331–349}}
* ''American Scoundrel: The Life of the Notorious Civil War General Dan Sickles'' (2002), biography of [[Daniel Sickles]]
* ''Lincoln'' (2003), biography of [[Abraham Lincoln]]
* ''[[The Commonwealth of Thieves: The Story of the Founding of Australia]]'' (2005)
* ''Searching for Schindler: A Memoir'' (2007)
* ''Australians: Origins to Eureka'' (2009)
* ''Three Famines: Starvation and Politics'' (2011)
* ''Australians: Eureka to the Diggers'' (2011)
* ''Australians: Flappers to Vietnam'' (2014)
* {{cite journal <!--|author=Keneally, Thomas |author-mask=1--> |date=March 2015 |title=Gutenberg fights on : a survival story |journal=The National Library of Australia Magazine |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=28–30 |url=https://www.nla.gov.au/magazine/march-2015-issue |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150622154306/https://www.nla.gov.au/magazine/march-2015-issue |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-06-22 |access-date=2023-10-25}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}<ref group=lower-alpha>The fifth Ray Mathew Lecture, National Library of Australia, 4 September 2014.</ref>
* ''Australians: A Short History'' (2016)
* ''A Bloody Good Rant: My Passions, Memories and Demons'' (2022)

=== Plays ===
* ''Halloran's Little Boat'' (1968)
* ''Childermas'' (1968)
* ''An Awful Rose'' (1972)
* ''Bullie's House'' (1981)
* ''Either Or'' (2007)<ref group=lower-alpha>{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/entertainment/daunting-haunting-task-for-an-author-with-a-story-to-tell/2007/05/02/1177788225265.html|title=Daunting, haunting task for an author with a story to tell|work=theage.com.au|date=3 May 2007 }}</ref>

=== Screenplays ===
* [[The Survivor (Keneally novel)#1972 TV Movie|''The Survivor'']] (1972)<ref group=lower-alpha>{{Cite web|title=The Survivor|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1779496/reference|website=IMDB}}</ref>
* [[Silver City (1984 film)|''Silver City'']] (1984)<ref group=lower-alpha>{{Cite web|title=Silver City|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088119/reference|website=IMDB}}</ref>
* ''[[The Fremantle Conspiracy]]'' (1988)<ref group=lower-alpha>{{Cite web|title=The Fremantle Conspiracy|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317531/reference|website=IMDB}}</ref>

———————
;Notes
{{reflist|40em|group=lower-alpha}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* [https://www.nfsa.gov.au/collection/curated/australian-biography-thomas-keneally Australian Biography website, including video interviews (and transcripts)]

==Further reading==
*{{cite journal |last=Sharrad |first=Paul |date=March 2015 |title=Just the ticket! The Thomas Keneally Papers |journal=The National Library of Australia Magazine |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=9–11 |url=https://www.nla.gov.au/magazine/march-2015-issue |archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150622154306/https://www.nla.gov.au/magazine/march-2015-issue |url-status=dead |archive-date=2015-06-22 |access-date=17 April 2015}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.randomhouse.com.au/Authors/Default.aspx?Page=Author&ID=Keneally,%20Tom Tom Keneally at Random House Australia]
* [http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/keneally/keneally.html Life and Works] of Thomas Keneally
* [https://smsa.org.au/tom-keneally-centre/ Tom Keneally Centre]
* {{Cite episode|title=Irish Escape|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/episodes/irish-escape/watch-the-full-episode/128/|series=Secrets of the Dead|series-link=Secrets of the Dead|network=[[PBS]]|station=[[WNET|Thirteen]]|airdate=4 June 2008}}
* [http://www.republic.org.au/ Australian Republic Movement] web site. Search for "Keneally".
* [http://www.travel-antarctica.com/2008/05/ross-sea-reprise.html Ross Sea Reprise] Thomas Keneally recalls his voyages to Antarctica
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061001151357/http://wiredforbooks.org/thomaskeneally/ 1983, 1989, 1991, 1993 RealAudio interviews with Thomas Keneally at Wired for Books.org]}} by Don Swaim
* [http://media.kcrw.com/audio/real/bw930726Thomas_Kenneally Radio interview with Michael Silverblatt]
*{{C-SPAN|81205}}
*{{imdb name|447745}}

{{Booker Prize}}
{{Miles Franklin Literary Award}}
{{Bengal famine of 1943}}
{{USC Scripter Awards — Film}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keneally, Thomas}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian educators]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian short story writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian biographers]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian educators]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian historians]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian novelists]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian screenwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian short story writers]]
[[Category:21st-century biographers]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian essayists]]
[[Category:21st-century memoirists]]
[[Category:21st-century Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Australian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Australian children's writers]]
[[Category:Australian fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Australian historical novelists]]
[[Category:Australian Indigenous rights activists]]
[[Category:Australian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Australian male film actors]]
[[Category:Australian male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Australian male novelists]]
[[Category:Australian male screenwriters]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian memoirists]]
[[Category:Australian mystery writers]]
[[Category:Australian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Australian republicans]]
[[Category:Schoolteachers from New South Wales]]
[[Category:Australian thriller writers]]
[[Category:Australian travel writers]]
[[Category:Booker Prize winners]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature]]
[[Category:Granta people]]
[[Category:Literacy and society theorists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Logie Award winners]]
[[Category:Miles Franklin Award winners]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Australia]]
[[Category:People educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield]]
[[Category:People from Manly, New South Wales]]
[[Category:Australian psychological fiction writers]]
[[Category:Australian Roman Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Surrealist writers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Queensland]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Sydney]]
[[Category:Writers about activism and social change]]
[[Category:Writers about the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity]]
[[Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the early modern period]]
[[Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Writers of historical fiction set in the modern age]]
[[Category:Writers from Sydney]]
[[Category:People from Kempsey, New South Wales]]