Peter Carey
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Peter Carey (born February 7, 1943) is an Australian novelist. Born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, and after living in Melbourne, London and Sydney he is now based in New York. He wrote advertising copy in the early days of his literary career. He also collaborated on the screenplay of the film Until the End of the World.
Peter Carey was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, in 1943. He was educated at Geelong Grammar School (1954-60) and later at Monash University where he studied science. Early contact with writers Morris Lurie and Barry Oakley led him into writing and advertising. Between 1962 and 1967 he supported his early writing career by working in advertising agencies in Melbourne, writing advertising copy. In the late 1960s he travelled through Europe and the Middle East and worked in London in advertising. He returned to Australia in 1970 and worked in a number of advertising agencies in Melbourne and Sydney. It was during this period that he began to write the short stories which appear in the Fat Man in History (1974)
In the late 1970s Carey moved to an 'alternative community' at Yandina in Queensland, writing for three weeks out of the month and working the fourth for an advertising firm in Sydney. During this time he wrote most of the stories which were published in War Crimes (1979) and completed his first novel Bliss (1981).
In 1980 Carey returned to Sydney and opened an advertising agency in partnership with Bani McSpedden. In 1981 he moved to Bellingen in northern New South Wales, which provided the inspiration for Illywhacker (1985) and Oscar and Lucinda (1988).
In 1990 Carey, his wife Alison Summers and his two sons took up residence in New York, where Carey went on to write The Tax Inspector (1991), The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), Jack Maggs (1997) and True history of the Kelly Gang (2001). He teaches creative writing part-time at New York University.
Carey has won numerous literary awards, including:
| The Booker Prize | Illywhacker, shortlisted in 1985; Oscar and Lucinda, 1988; True history of the Kelly Gang, 2001 |
| The Miles Franklin Award | Bliss, 1981; Oscar and Lucinda, 1989; Jack Maggs, 1998; True history of the Kelly Gang, shortlisted in 2001 |
| The Age Book of the Year Award | Illywhacker, 1985; The unusual life of Tristan Smith, 1994; Jack Maggs, 1997 |
| The Commonwealth Writers Prize | Jack Maggs, 1998; True story of the Kelly Gang, 2001 |
| NSW Premier's Literary Award | War Crimes, 1980; Bliss, 1982 |
| NBC Banjo Award | Bliss, 1982; Illywhacker, 1985; Oscar and Lucinda, 1989 |
| FAW Barbara Ramsden Award | Illywhacker, 1985 |
| Vance Palmer Prize for fiction | Illywhacker, 1986 |
| Townsville Foundation for Australian Literary Studies Award | Oscar and Lucinda, 1988 |
| SA Festival Award | Oscar and Lucinda, 1990 |
| Ditmar Award for Best Australian Science Fiction Novel | Illywhacker, 1986 |
Novels
- Bliss (1981)
- Illywhacker (1985)
- Oscar and Lucinda (1988)
- The Tax Inspector (1991)
- The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994)
- Jack Maggs (1997)
- True History of the Kelly Gang (2000)
- My Life as a Fake (2003)
Children's books
Short stories
- The Fat Man in History (1974)
- War Crimes (1979)
- Exotic Pleasures (1990)
- Peeling
- American Dreams
- Do You Love Me?
- Crabs
Non fiction
- A Letter to Our Son (1994)
- 30 Days in Sydney: A Wildly Distorted Account (2001)
- Wrong About Japan (2004)
External links
- Guide to the papers of Peter Carey (http://nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms7566) - held by the National Library of Australia