Richard Flanagan Explained

Richard Flanagan
Birth Name:Richard Miller Flanagan
Birth Place:Longford, Tasmania, Australia
Alma Mater:University of Tasmania
Worcester College, Oxford
Years Active:1985–present
Spouse:Majda Smolej
Children:3
Relatives:Martin Flanagan (brother)
Awards:Man Booker Prize

Richard Miller Flanagan (born 1961) is an Australian writer, who has also worked as a film director and screenwriter. He won the 2014 Man Booker Prize for his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North.[1]

Flanagan was described by the Washington Post as "one of our greatest living novelists".[2]

"[C]onsidered by many to be the finest Australian novelist of his generation", according to The Economist,[3] the New York Review of Books described Flanagan as "among the most versatile writers in the English language".[4]

Early life and education

Flanagan was born in Longford, Tasmania, in 1961, the fifth of six children. He is descended from Irish convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land during the Great Famine in Ireland.[5] Flanagan's father was a survivor of the Burma Death Railway and one of his three brothers is Australian rules football journalist Martin Flanagan.

Flanagan was born with severe hearing loss, which was corrected when he was six years old.[6] He grew up in the remote mining town of Rosebery on Tasmania's western coast.[7] [8]

Flanagan left school at the age of 16 but returned to study at the University of Tasmania, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with First-Class Honours. Flanagan was president of the Tasmania University Union in 1983.[9] The following year, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attend Worcester College, Oxford, where he earned the degree of Master of Letters in History.[10]

Early works

Flanagan wrote four non-fiction works before moving to fiction, works that he called "his apprenticeship".[7] [8] [11] One of these was Codename Iago, an autobiography of Australian con man John Friedrich, which Flanagan ghostwrote in six weeks to make money to write his first novel. Friedrich killed himself in the middle of the book's writing and it was published posthumously. Simon Caterson, writing in The Australian, described it as "one of the least reliable but most fascinating memoirs in the annals of Australian publishing".[12]

Novels

Flanagan's first novel, Death of a River Guide (1994), is the tale of Aljaz Cosini, a river guide, who lies drowning, reliving his life and the lives of his family and forebears. It was described by The Times Literary Supplement as "one of the most auspicious debuts in Australian writing".[13] The Sound of One Hand Clapping (1997), tells the story of Slovenian immigrants and was a major bestseller, selling more than 150,000 copies in Australia. Flanagan's first two novels, declared Kirkus Reviews, "rank with the finest fiction out of Australia since the heyday of Patrick White".[14]

Gould's Book of Fish (2001) is based on the life of William Buelow Gould, a convict artist, and tells the tale of his love affair with a young black woman in 1828. It won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Flanagan described these early novels as 'soul histories'. The Unknown Terrorist (2006), was described by The New York Times as "stunning ... a brilliant meditation upon the post-9/11 world".[15] Wanting (2008) tells two parallel stories: about the novelist Charles Dickens in England, and Mathinna, an Aboriginal orphan adopted by Sir John Franklin, the colonial governor of Van Diemen's Land, and his wife, Lady Jane Franklin. As well as being a New Yorker Book of the Year and Observer Book of the Year, it won the Queensland Premier's Prize, the Western Australian Premier's Prize and the Tasmania Book Prize. The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2013),[16] about a Tasmanian doctor who becomes a Japanese prisoner of war, won the 2014 Man Booker Prize.[17] [18]

First Person (2017),[19] based loosely on his experience early in his writing career ghost-writing the autobiography of John Friedrich. The New Yorker noted "the novel, with its switchbacking recollections and cyclical dialogue, its penetrating scenes of birth and, eventually, death, is enigmatic and mesmerizing"[20] while the New York Review of Books called it a "tour-de-force".[4]

The Living Sea of Waking Dreams (2020) about a woman caring for her dying mother during Australia's Black Summer of climate change induced wildfires, was described in a review for The Sydney Morning Herald as "a revelation and a triumph . . . astonishing".[21]

Robert Dixon's (ed.) Richard Flanagan: Critical Essays (2018) offers different perspectives on Flanagan's writing, while Joyce Carol Oates has written an overview of his novels for the New York Review of Books.[22]

Journalism

Flanagan has written on literature, the environment, art and politics for the Australian and international press including, The Daily Telegraph (London), Suddeutsche Zeitung, The Monthly, The New York Times, and the New Yorker.[23] Some of his writings have proved controversial. "The Selling-out of Tasmania", published after the death of former Premier Jim Bacon in 2004, was critical of the Bacon government's relationship with corporate interests in the state. Premier Paul Lennon declared, "Richard Flanagan and his fictions are not welcome in the new Tasmania".[24] Flanagan's 2007 essay on logging company Gunns, then the biggest hardwood woodchipper in the world, "Gunns. Out of Control" in The Monthly,[25] first published as "Paradise Razed" in The Telegraph (London),[26] inspired Sydney businessman Geoffrey Cousins' high-profile campaign to stop the building of Gunns' two billion dollar Bell Bay Pulp Mill.[27] [28] Cousins reprinted 50,000 copies of the essay for letterboxing in the electorates of Australia's environment minister and opposition environment spokesperson.[29] [30] Gunns subsequently collapsed with huge debt,[31] its CEO John Gay found guilty of insider trading,[32] and the pulp mill was never built. Flanagan's essay won the 2008 John Curtin Prize for Journalism.[33]

A collection of his non-fiction was published as And What Do You Do, Mr Gable? (2011).

In 2015 he published Notes on an Exodus, on the Syrian refugee crisis, arising out of visiting refugee camps in Lebanon, Greece, and meeting refugees in Serbia. The book also features sketches made by the noted Australian artist Ben Quilty, who travelled with Flanagan to meet the refugees.

His 2021 book Toxic. The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry has been credited with lifting 'the veil on the Atlantic salmon industry's environmental and social malfeasances' and igniting popular opposition to the industry.[34]

Film

The 1998 film of The Sound of One Hand Clapping, written and directed by Flanagan, was nominated for the Golden Bear at that year's Berlin Film Festival.[35]

He worked with Baz Luhrmann as a writer on the 2008 film Australia.

A major television series of The Narrow Road to the Deep North is in production, directed by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth, Nitram) and starring Jacob Elordi (Euphoria, Priscilla, Saltburn).[36]

Personal life

Flanagan is an ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation,[37] to which he donated his $40,000 prize money on winning the Australian Prime Minister's Literary Prize in 2014.[38] A painting of Richard Flanagan by artist Geoffrey Dyer won the 2003 Archibald Prize.[39] A rapid on the Franklin River, Flanagan's Surprise, is named after him.[40] He was made an Honorary Citizen of Oxford, Mississippi, the home town of William Faulkner, in 2014.[41]

Flanagan lives in Hobart, Tasmania with his Slovenian-born wife Majda (née Smolej) and has three daughters, Rosie, Jean and Eliza.

His life was the subject of a BAFTA award-winning BBC documentary, Life After Death.[42]

Works

Novels

Non-fiction

Films

Awards and honours

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: In First, Americans Are Nominated for Booker Prize. Katrin. Bennhold. Alexandra. Alter. 23 July 2014. 9 February 2019. The New York Times.
  2. News: Patrick. Bethanne. 10 books to read in May. en-US. Washington Post. 2021-05-05. 0190-8286.
  3. News: 3 July 2014. New fiction: Remembrance - The Economist. 15 October 2014. The Economist.
  4. Oates. Joyce Carol. 27 September 2018. The Ghostwriter's Mask. 9 February 2019. Nybooks.com.
  5. Book: Dynasties 2: More Remarkable and Influential Australian Families. 2006. Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 9780733317675. 31–32. 1.
  6. https://www.abc.net.au/austory/a-letter-from-richard-flanagan/5820080 ABC, Australian Story
  7. Web site: Notes for Reading Groups – Richard Flanagan. 3 November 2004. Picador Australia. 2009-11-08. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20091003151402/http://www.panmacmillan.com.au/resources/9780330364751-notes.pdf. 3 October 2009.
  8. Web site: Richard Flanagan. The British Council. 2016-01-13.
  9. Book: Alexander, Alison . 1999 . State of the Union: Tasmania University Union 1899–1999 . Hobart . Tasmania University Union . 0-9592353-2-9 . 67.
  10. Web site: McKenna . Amy . Richard Flanagan . www.britannica.com . Encyclopedia Britannica . 3 January 2024 . en . 1 January 2024.
  11. Web site: Author Biography. 30 April 2007. Bookbrowse.com. 2009-11-08.
  12. Web site: All memoirs are verily unreliable. 11 April 2008. Theaustralian.com.au. 9 February 2019.
  13. Smith. Vivian. Down the Franklin. The Times Literary Supplement. 3 October 1997. 7 April 2019.
  14. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/richard-flanagan/death-of-a-river-guide/ Death of a River Guide
  15. News: A Misunderstanding, and a Simple Life Descends into a Nightmare . The New York Times . Michiko . Kakutani . 8 May 2007.
  16. News: Poetry without a shred of pity. 15 October 2014. The Australian. News Corp Australia.
  17. Web site: Richard Flanagan wins Man Booker Prize for The Narrow Road to the Deep North. 14 October 2014 . The Daily Telegraph. 15 October 2014.
  18. Web site: Man Booker Prize 2014: The Narrow Road to the Deep North author Richard Flanagan becomes third Australian to win the literary accolade. 14 October 2014 . Independent. 15 October 2014.
  19. Web site: New Novel from Richard Flanagan. Penguin.com.au. 9 February 2019.
  20. Web site: Briefly Noted Book Reviews. 21 May 2018. 9 February 2019. Newyorker.com.
  21. Web site: Williams. Michael. 2020-09-25. The sheer magic of Richard Flanagan's disappearing act. 2020-09-26. The Sydney Morning Herald. en.
  22. News: The Ghostwriter's Mask. Oates. Joyce Carol. New York Review of Books. 2018-09-27. 2019-06-09. en. 0028-7504.
  23. Web site: Tasmanian Devil. Richard. Flanagan. 14 January 2013. 9 February 2019. Newyorker.com.
  24. Web site: Australian Story. Abc.net.au. 15 October 2014.
  25. Web site: Themonthly.com. The Monthly. 15 October 2014.
  26. News: Paradise razed . https://web.archive.org/web/20090223233314/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/conservation/3298789/Paradise-razed.html . dead . 23 February 2009 . London . The Daily Telegraph . Richard . Flanagan . 28 June 2007.
  27. Web site: Vision Ltd: Turnbull yes to mess for 50 years. Alan. Ramsey. 6 October 2007. The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 February 2019.
  28. Web site: The corporate assassin. The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 March 2012 . 15 October 2014.
  29. "Pulp mill fight moves into MPs' backyards – Environment". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 August 2007.
  30. "Garrett hedges bets on mill – Environment". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 August 2007.
  31. Web site: Gunns failure a story of corporate greed and hubris, say mill's critics. The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 September 2012 . 15 October 2014.
  32. News: Commonwealth pursues Gay for proceeds of crime. ABC News. 17 March 2014 . 15 October 2014.
  33. Web site: "2008 John Curtin Prize Journalism Acceptance Speech" . The Monthly, 1 September 2008. 10 April 2024.
  34. Web site: Brown . Bob . 2024-01-27 . Albanese and the salmon wars . 2024-01-27 . The Saturday Paper . en.
  35. Web site: Berlinale: 1998 Programme . 2012-01-22 . berlinale.de.
  36. Web site: Frater . Patrick . 2023-11-20 . Ciaran Hinds Joins 'Euphoria' Star Jacob Elordi in Prime Video and Sony's Australian Miniseries 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' . 2024-01-27 . Variety . en-US.
  37. Web site: Flanagan appointed ILF ambassador; PRH signs on as 'major charity partner' . 15 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150715172025/http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/item/32546 . 15 July 2015 . dead.
  38. Web site: Indigenous Literacy - Indigenous Literacy Foundation . 15 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150715164357/https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au/richard-flanagan-gifts-pms-literary-award-winnings.html . 15 July 2015 . dead.
  39. Web site: Art Gallery of New South Wales: Archibald Prize Winner . 2009-01-07 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090325104712/http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/media/archives_2003/archibald_prize_winner . 25 March 2009.
  40. Peter Griffiths and Bruce Baxter,(2010) The Ever-Varying Flood. A History and Guide to the Franklin River. (2nd ed.) Preston, Vic. p.57
  41. Web site: Welcome Home Richard Flanagan. SQUARE BOOKS. en. 2019-06-09.
  42. Web site: Richard Flanagan: Life After Death. Jack. Cocker. 7 August 2015. 9 February 2019. Vimeo.
  43. News: Con fishing. MacFarlane . Robert . 26 May 2002. The Guardian. 2009-11-08 . London.
  44. Web site: Review of Gould's Book of Fish. Complete-review.com. 15 October 2014.
  45. News: Nadando contracorriente con El libro de los peces de William Gould, de Richard Flanagan. González Cueto. Irene. 2017-03-06. Cultural Resuena. es-ES.
  46. Web site: The Unknown Terrorist official site. Theunknownterrorist.com.au. 9 February 2019.
  47. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2008/2413508.htm ABC.net.au
  48. http://www.themonthly.com.au/tm/node/1331 Themonthly.com
  49. http://www.richardflanaganwanting.com.au Official Australian Wanting book website
  50. News: Saints and Savages . The New York Times . William . Boyd . 28 June 2009.
  51. News: Williams. Michael. Dinner with Richard Flanagan, a child of the death railway. 31 December 2013. The Guardian. 26 September 2013.
  52. News: Williamson. Geordie. Poetry without a shred of pity. 31 December 2013. The Australian. 28 September 2013.
  53. Web site: A terrible beauty : history of the Gordon River country / Richard Flanagan . National Library of Australia. 2009-11-08.
  54. Web site: The Rest of the world is watching. National Library of Australia. 2009-11-08.
  55. Web site: Codename Iago : the story of John Friedrich : by John Friedrich with Richard Flanagan. National Library of Australia. 2009-11-08.
  56. Web site: Richard Flanagan. 20 December 2004. Middlemiss.org. 2009-11-08.
  57. Web site: "Parish-fed bastards" : a history of the politics of the unemployed in Britain, 1884-1939 / Richard ... - National Library of Australia. Catalogue.nla.gov.au. 15 October 2014.
  58. Web site: Toxic by Richard Flanagan. 2021-04-20. www.penguin.com.au. en.
  59. Web site: Western Australian Premier's Book Awards - 2008. c=AU; o=Government of Western Australia; ou=Department of Culture and the Arts;ou=State Library of Western. Australian. Pba.slwa.wa.gov.au. 9 February 2019.
  60. Web site: 2011 Tasmanian Book Prizes winners announced - Books+Publishing. Booksandpublishing.com.au. 9 February 2019.
  61. Web site: Domain parked by Instra. Qldlitawards.org.au. 9 February 2019.
  62. Web site: The Man Booker Prize for Fiction Backlist - The Man Booker Prizes. Themanbookerprize.com. 9 February 2019.
  63. Web site: Subscribe to The Australian - Newspaper home delivery, website, iPad, iPhone & Android apps. Myaccount.news.com.au. 9 February 2019.
  64. News: Hodgman. Will. Winners of the Premier's Literary Prizes. 1 January 2018. Department of Premier and Cabinet. 2 December 2015.
  65. Web site: Εκδόσεις Ψυχογιός: Στον Ρίτσαρντ Φλάναγκαν το Athens Prize for Literature - Lavart . 5 December 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220065601/http://www.lavart.gr/ston-richard-flanagan-to-athens-prize-for-literature-deltio-tipou/ . 20 December 2016 . dead.
  66. Web site: Lire: les 20 meilleurs livres de 2016. 1 December 2016. LExpress.fr. 9 February 2019.
  67. Web site: Fellows. Australian Academy of the Humanities. en-AU. 2019-11-21.
  68. Web site: Honorary Members and Fellows. 2020-12-02. Modern Language Association. en.

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