Tim Winton

Tim Winton
Born 4 August 1960 (1960-08-04) (age 58)[1]
Karrinyup, Western Australia
Occupation Novelist
Nationality Australian
Period 1982–present
Genre Literature, children 's literature, non-fiction, short story
Notable works Cloudstreet
Dirt Music
Breath
Shallows
Blueback
Notable awards Miles Franklin
1984, 1992, 2002, 2009

Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer of novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997 he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust, and has won the Miles Franklin Award four times.

Life

Tim Winton was born in Karrinyup, Perth, Western Australia.[2] He moved with his family at age of 12 to the regional city of Albany.[3]

Winton has been named a Living Treasure by the National Trust[4] and awarded the Centenary Medal for service to literature and the community.[5] He is patron of the Tim Winton Award for Young Writers sponsored by the City of Subiaco, Western Australia.[6]

He has lived in Italy, France, Ireland and Greece[7] but currently lives in Western Australia again. Winton met his wife Denise when they were children at school. When he was 18 and recovering from a car accident, they reconnected as she was a student nurse. They married when he was 21 and she was 20. They have three children together.[7] They live on the coast north of Perth.[8]

His younger brother, Andrew Winton, is a musician and a high school chaplain. His younger sister is Sharyn O'Neill, who, in 2007, assumed the position of Director General of the WA Education Department.[9]

As his fame has increased Winton has guarded his and his family's privacy. He rarely speaks in public yet he is known as "an affable, plain-speaking man of unaffected intelligence and deep emotions."[10]

Literary career

Whilst at Curtin University of Technology, Winton wrote his first novel, An Open Swimmer, which won The Australian/Vogel Literary Award in 1981, launching his writing career. He has stated that he wrote "the best part of three books while at university".[11] His second book, Shallows, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1984. It wasn't until Cloudstreet was published in 1991, however, that his writing career was properly established.[11] He has continued to publish fiction, plays and non-fiction material.

The National Library of Australia holds the Papers of Tim Winton (unpublished 1980-1996), biographical cuttings and programs and related material collected by the National Library of Australia.[12]

Reception and honours

In 1995, Winton’s The Riders was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction, as was his 2002 book, Dirt Music. Both are currently being adapted for film. He has won many other prizes, including the Miles Franklin Award a record four times: for Shallows (1984), Cloudstreet (1992), Dirt Music (2002) and Breath (2009). Cloudstreet regularly appearing in lists of Australia's best-loved novels.[13]

All his books are still in print and have been published in eighteen different languages. His work has also been successfully adapted for stage, screen and radio.[14] On the publication of his novel, Dirt Music, he collaborated with broadcaster Lucky Oceans to produce a compilation CD, Dirt Music – Music for a Novel.[15]

The Tim Winton Young Writers Award, sponsored annually since 1993 by the City of Subiaco, recognizes young writers in the Perth metropolitan area.[16] It is open to short story writers of primary school and secondary school age. Three compilations have been published: Destination Unknown (2001)[17] Life Bytes (2002),[18] and Hatched: Celebrating Twenty Years of the Tim Winton Award for Young Writers (2013). The latter features the winning story from each year of the award from 1993 to 2012.[19] Winton is the patron of the competition.[20]

Style and themes

Winton draws his prime inspiration from landscape and place, mostly coastal Western Australia. He has said "The place comes first. If the place isn't interesting to me then I can't feel it. I can't feel any people in it. I can't feel what the people are on about or likely to get up to."[21] His themes often centre on an issue from young adulthood. As character Gail says in The Turning, "every vivid experience comes from your adolescence".[21]

"Winton is widely recognised for his depiction of Australians and the land where they live. A keen environmentalist, Winton's love of this land is reflected in the way he uses landscapes and places for inspiration. Many of his stories are set in Western Australia."[22]

Dr Jules Smith for the British Council wrote about Winton,

"His books are boisterous and lyrical by turns, warm-hearted in their depictions of family life but with characters that often have to be in extremis in order to find themselves. They have a wonderful feeling for the strange beauty of Australia; are frequently flavoured with Aussie vernacular expressions, and a good deal of emotional directness. They question macho role models (his books are full of strong women and troubled men) and are prepared to risk their realist credibility with enigmatic, even visionary endings."[23]

Winton revisits place and, occasionally, characters from one book to another. Queenie Cookson, for example, is a character in Breath who also appears in Shallows, Minimum of Two and in two of the Lockie Leonard books.

Winton on writing

"I never had a desire for a public life, never expected to be read by more than a couple of thousand people, and when you get the mass audience I seem to have stumbled upon, the public exposure is very disconcerting ... There's an uneasy encounter between art and commerce which I don't know personally how to resolve ... writing is ... something I do for myself and because I can ... magic moments "when it's happening, when you finally get pen to paper, you exist only in that present tense - you don't have an age a heartbeat, you're just in this squeezed-down narrow focus which is timeless."[10]

Environmental advocacy

Winton is actively involved in the Australian environmental movement. He is a patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) and is involved in many of their campaigns, notably their work in raising awareness about sustainable seafood consumption.[24] He is a patron of the Stop the Toad Foundation and contributed to the whaling debate with an article on the Last Whale website.[25] He is also a prominent advocate of the Save Moreton Bay organisation, the Environment Defender’s Office, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Marine Conservation Society, with which he is campaigning against shark finning.[26]

In 2003, Winton was awarded the inaugural Australian Society of Authors (ASA) Medal in recognition for his work in the campaign to save the Ningaloo Reef.

Winton keeps away from the public eye, unless promoting a new book or supporting an environmental issue. He told reviewer Jason Steger "Occasionally they wheel me out for green advocacy stuff but that's the only kind of stuff I put my head up for."[27]

In 2016, species of fish from the Kimberley region was named after him.[28]

In March 2017 Winton was named patron of the newly-established Native Australian Animals Trust.[29] He has always featured the environment and the Australian landscape in his writings. The trust was established to help research and teaching about native animals and their environment. Associate Professor Tim Dempster, School of Biosciences is quoted as saying, "Australia has a unique and charismatic animal fauna, but our state of knowledge about it is poor. Indeed species can go extinct before we even know of their existence. We have much to learn from our fauna, and a pressing need to do so."[30]

Bibliography

Novels

Short story collections

Novella

  • Small Mercies (2006)

Plays

  • Rising Water (2011)
  • Signs of Life (2012)
  • Shrine (2013)

In collections of short stories and essays

Winton’s short stories have been published in numerous publications and widely anthologised:

  • "Big World", Journeys: Modern Australian Short Stories, Barry Oakley (ed), Five Mile Press, 2007
  • "Abbreviation"/"Ten viet tat", Truyen ngan Uc/Australian Short Stories, Rose Moxham (ed), Trinh Lu (translator), Hoi Nhaa Van, 2005
  • "Cockleshell", Harvard Review, No. 27, Christina Thompson (ed), 2004
  • "Landing", A Place on Earth: An Anthology of Nature Writing from Australia and North America, Mark Tredinnick (ed), University of Nebraska Press and University of New South Wales Press, 2003
  • "How the Reef was Won", The Bulletin, vol. 121 no. 6384, 5 August 2003
  • "Aquifer", The Beacon Best of 2001, Junot Diaz (ed), Beacon Press, 2001

Children's books

Non-fiction

  • Land's Edge (1993) – with Trish Ainslie and Roger Garwood
  • Local Colour: Travels in the Other Australia (1994), republished in the U.S. as Australian Colors: Images of the Outback (1998) – photography and text by Bill Bachman, additional text by Tim Winton
  • Down to Earth: Australian Landscapes (1999) – text by Tim Winton and photographs by Richard Woldendorp
  • Smalltown (2009) – text by Tim Winton and photographs by Martin Mischkulnig
  • Island Home (2015)
  • Tide-Lands - Idris Murphy (2015) text by Tim Winton and art by Idris Murphy
  • The Boy Behind the Curtain (2016)

Dramatisations

Adaptations

  • A film based on That Eye the Sky, directed by John Ruane, was released in 1994[41]
  • A film based on In The Winter Dark directed by James Bogle was released in 1998[42]
  • Two television series based on the Lockie Leonard books. The first series screened in 2007, the second in 2010.[43]
  • A film adaptation of short story 'The Water Was Dark and Went Forever Down', 2009.[44]
  • A TV miniseries based on Cloudstreet was aired in 2011.[45]
  • A film based on The Turning was released in September 2013. It was nominated for and won many awards.[46]
  • A film adaptation of The Riders was in development but there have been serious problems.[47]
  • An opera adaptation of The Riders Victorian Opera/Malthouse Theatre 2014[48]
  • An opera adaptation of Cloudstreet State Opera of South Australia. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, premiered May 12 and 13 2016.[49]
  • A film adaptation of the short story ‘Secrets’ directed by Michael Rowe is in development.
  • A film adaptation of Breath filming underway April 2016[50]

Critical works about Winton

  • Tim Winton: Critical Essays, Lyn McCredden and Nathanael O'Reilly (eds), University of Western Australia Publishing, 2014
  • Mind the Country: Tim Winton’s fiction, Salhia Ben-Messahel, University of Western Australia Press, 2006
  • Tim Winton: the writer and his work, Michael McGirr, Macmillan Education, 1999
  • Tim Winton: a celebration, Hilary McPhee (ed), National Library of Australia, (1999)
  • Reading Tim Winton, Richard Rossiter and Lyn Jacobs (eds), Angus & Robertson, (1993)

Awards and nominations

Full list of awards and nominations:

An Open Swimmer

  • 1981 Australian Vogel National Literary Award[53]

Shallows

Scission and Other Stories

  • 1985 Western Australian Council Literary Award[20]
  • 1985 Joint Winner Western Australian Premier's Book Award - Fiction[20]

Minimum of Two and Other Stories

  • 1988 Winner Western Australian Premier's Book Award - Fiction[20]

Jesse (picture book)

  • 1990 Winner Western Australian Premier's Book Award: Children's Book[20]

Cloudstreet

Lockie Leonard, Human Torpedo

  • 1991 Joint winner Western Australian Premier's Book Award: Children's Book[20]
  • 1993 American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults Award[20]
  • 1996 Winner YABBA Awards: Fiction for Older Readers[20]

Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster

The Bugalugs Bum Thief

  • 1994 Winner CROW Award (Children Reading Outstanding Writers): Focus list (Years 3-5)[20]
  • 1998 Winner YABBA Awards: Fiction for Younger Readers[20]

The Riders

Blueback

  • 1998 Bolinda Audio Book Awards[20]
  • 1998 Wilderness Society Environment Award[20]
  • 1999 WAYRBA Hoffman Award for Young Readers,[20]

Lockie Leonard, Legend

  • 1998 Family Award for Children's Literature,[20]

Dirt Music

The Turning

Breath

  • 2008 Age Book of the Year, Fiction – winner[20]
  • 2008 Indie Awards — Fiction[20]
  • 2009 Miles Franklin Award[54]
  • 2009 Shortlisted Commonwealth Writers' Prize, South East Asia and the South Pacific Region[20]
  • 2009 Shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Christina Stead Prize[20]

Eyrie

  • 2014 shortlisted Queensland Literary Awards — Fiction Book Award[52]
  • 2014 shortlisted Voss Literary Prize[52]
  • 2014 winner Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — People's Choice Award[52]
  • 2014 shortlisted Western Australian Premier's Book Awards — Fiction[52]
  • 2014 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Literary Fiction Book of the Year[52]
  • 2014 shortlisted Miles Franklin Literary Award[52]
  • 2014 shortlisted Indie Awards — Fiction[52]
  • 2014 shortlisted Victorian Premier's Literary Awards — Fiction[52]

Island Home : A Landscape Memoir

The Boy Behind the Curtain

  • 2017 longlisted Indie Awards — Nonfiction[52]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Winton
  2. ↑ "Tim Winton (Author profile), Jenny Darling & Associates". Archived from the original on 6 December 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
  3. ↑ Steger, Jason (2008) "It's a risky business", The Sydney Morning Herald, 25–27 April 2008, Books: p. 29
  4. 1 2 Living Treasures list, National Trust website Archived 10 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  5. 1 2 "Winton, Tim Centenary Medal". Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  6. ↑ Tim Winton Award Archived 6 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. 1 2 "Waiting for the mew wave - Interview 28 June 2008". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  8. ↑ "The Boy Behind the Curtain - From guns to words 15 October 2016". NZ Herald. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  9. ↑ "Sharyn O'Neill - Director General". Department of Education Western Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  10. 1 2 "Tim Winton : Into the Blue: Murray Waldren (first published in The Weekend Australian.)". Literary Liaisons. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  11. 1 2 Steger, Jason (2008) "Its a risky business" in The Sydney Morning Herald, 25–27 April 2008, Books p. 28
  12. ↑ "Diaries, letters, archives [Tim Winton]". Trove National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  13. ↑ "Your Favourite Australian Book poll", Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  14. ↑ Tim Winton (Author profile), Jenny Darling & Associates
  15. ↑ "Dirt Music: Music For A Novel By Tim Winton". Discogs. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  16. ↑ "Tim Winton Award for Young Writers". City of Subiaco. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  17. ↑ "Destination unknown / edited by Alwyn Evans ; foreword Tim Winton". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  18. ↑ "Life bytes / edited by Alwyn Evans". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  19. ↑ "Tim Winton Award for Young Writers - Publications 2016". City of Subiaco. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 "Tim Winton Author Bio". Booktopia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  21. 1 2 cited by Steger, Jason (2008) "It's a risky business" in The Sydney Morning Herald, 25–27 April 2008, Books p. 29
  22. ↑ "Premiers Book Awards Hall of Fame". State Library of Western Australia. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  23. ↑ "Critical Perspective Dr Jules Smith 2003". Literature British Council. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  24. ↑ AMCS Sustainable Seafood Guide Archived 20 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  25. ↑ "I like men", The Last Whale blog, November 2007]
  26. ↑ "For the love of sharks", Australian Geographic, 23 July 2010
  27. ↑ cited by Steger, Jason (2008) "It's a risky business" in The Sydney Morning Herald, 25–27 April 2008, Books p. 28
  28. ↑ "'A great honour': New fish species named after author Tim Winton". ABC News. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  29. ↑ "Native Australian Animals Trust". University of Melbourne. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  30. ↑ "Native Australian Animals Trust". University of Melbourne. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  31. ↑ ""That Eye, The Sky"". Aussie Theatre. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  32. ↑ "Cloudstreet's Adaptations". Austlit. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  33. ↑ "AusStage". AusStage. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  34. ↑ "Lockie Leonard Human Torpedo". Australian Plays. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  35. ↑ "Lockie Leonard, Scumbuster". AusStage. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  36. ↑ "The Bugalugs Bum Thief". Sydney Morning Herald 6 April 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  37. ↑ "The Bugalugs Bum Thief (National Tours)". monkey baa theatre company. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  38. ↑ "The Deep First Performance 2001". Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  39. ↑ "Blueback". Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  40. ↑ "The Turning Perth Theatre Company". Australian Stage. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  41. ↑ "That Eye, the Sky (1994)". Australian Screen. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  42. ↑ "In the Winter Dark". IMDb. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  43. ↑ "Lockie Leonard". IMDb. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  44. ↑ "The Water Was Dark and It Went Forever". IMDb. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  45. ↑ "Cloudstreet". IMDb. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  46. ↑ "The Turning". IMDb. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  47. ↑ "The Riders". IMDb. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  48. ↑ "The Riders Review (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne) 25 September 2014". Daily Review. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  49. ↑ "Review: Cloudstreet (State Opera of South Australia)". Limelight Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  50. ↑ "Elizabeth Debicki, Richard Roxburgh join cast of Simon Baker's film Breath 12 April 2016". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  51. ↑ "Under the Influence". Workers Online. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  52. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Personal Awards for Works". Austlit. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  53. ↑ "Fully formed: 30 years of The Australian/Vogel Literary Award 23 January 2011". The Australian. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  54. 1 2 3 4 "Miles Franklin Literary Award – Every Winner Since 1957". Better Reading. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  55. ↑ "AWGIE Stage Award". Australian Plays Organization. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  56. 1 2 "Past Nominees and Winners 2002". Helpmann Awards. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  57. ↑ "Shortlist 1995". Man Booker Prize. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  58. ↑ "Shortlist 2002". Man Booker Prize. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
External video
Tim Winton laments the power of toxic masculinity on young men, Matter Of Fact With Stan Grant, ABC News
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